


Teardrops & Coffee

by Dreaming_of_Fairys



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Backstory, Bike Rides, Bullying, Cats, Coffee, Computer Programming, Crying, Cuddling, Dates, Drug Abuse, Falling In Love, Flashbacks, Flowers, Fluff, Forgiveness, Gay Pride, Heartbreak, Homesickness, Homework, Homophobia, Hugs, Journalism, Kissing, Late Nights, M/M, Movie Dates, School, Stress, Texting, Walks In The Park, Yaoi, boring classes, chick flicks, comforting crush, crushing on someone hard, deli dates, dorks falling in love, fighting between friends, gay sex jokes, i crack myself up, job hunting, natsu is a pervert, possible smut in later chapters?, rogue finds it cute, sports games dates, sting cannot flirt for the life of him, sting is clumsy too, sting x rogue, stingro, stingue, tags will be updated as story continues - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-24
Updated: 2016-06-16
Packaged: 2018-04-27 23:22:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5068849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreaming_of_Fairys/pseuds/Dreaming_of_Fairys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sting Eucliffe finally made it into the best collage in Fiore: Magnolia University. After being bullied for his sexuality for the four years of High School, he's ready for a fresh start. Already things get underway when he bumps into an attractive dark-haired journalist in the dorm elevator. Sting should be elated and yet...there's a little something holding him back. And that little something is his own awkwardness. Determined to win over the other boy's heart, Sting makes his best effort to keep his cool...but it's extremely hard when the guy you're trying to flirt with is as smooth as can be...or is he?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1: The Hot Guy in the Elevator

Sting Eucliffe, 18 years old, approaches the dorm building at Magnolia University. His heart is pounding in his chest, a mile a minute. He honestly had no clue what to expect, but good lord was he glad to be out of high school. There he was bullied endlessly for being gay, both with words and with fists. He could almost still feel their rough hands slapping him across the face, shoving him to the floor of the locker rooms... And the worst part was, no one had cared. Sting's mother passed away when he was little, barely even 4 years old, and his father was a businessman who was never home. Sting had gotten used to being quiet about these sorts of things, having no one to really vent to anyways. Here he hoped he could make a fresh start. Find a job, pass his classes, make some friends... Anything really. Anything but a scenario like high school all over again.

Pushing open the doors to the dorm, he finds himself glancing all around him. Key in hand, he moves towards the elevator. His room is 707, which means he's staying on the seventh floor. The elevator doors slide open, revealing two boys dressed in sport gear. The black-haired boy is in swim clothes, while the pink-haired boy is wearing a soccer jersey. Bickering and calling each other names like 'Ice Ass' and 'Lava Shitface', the duo walk right past Sting and towards the outside. Sting can't help but to smile, liking them already. They seemed like a fun pair.

After a few stops on other floors to let people in and out, including a man with many piercings and a white-haired man in a swimsuit. Finally Sting reaches floor 7, exhaling in relief. In his daze, he nearly crashes into a boy around his age wearing a brown shirt and a gray scarf. "Oh my god, I'm so s-" Sting freezes mid-sentence. The boy looks towards him, revealing a pair of stunningly red eyes behind black glasses. His bangs are swept to his right side, almost covering that eye. His black hair is back in a ponytail, giving Sting a better view of the boy's sharp jaw.

"No, it was my fault," the boy replies softly, his voice dark and mysterious. It sends shivers down Sting's spine, making him feel a bit weak in the knees. "I was too busy thinking about my journalism report..." He sighs slightly, his hands sliding into his jeans pockets as he looks down at the boots on his feet. "Tough job, I tell you."

Still speechless, Sting simply nods. Holy shit was this guy attractive. 'Don't fuck this up,' Sting tells himself. Clearing his throat, he replies with, "Uh, yeah, I bet it is. I mean, I wouldn't really know, I'm a computer science major... Heheh..." Sting mentally curses himself for sounding like a moron in front of this literal god.

To Sting's surprise, the boy chuckles. "I don't expect you to understand. However, computers sound difficult as well. I have enough trouble with my own as it is..." He then pauses as the elevator door closes. "Um...is this your floor?"

"Oh shit!" Sting exclaims, slamming the button to open the door again. As it slides open, he looks over his shoulder at the boy. "Thanks so much, I zoned."

A small smile spreads across the boy's stone-cut features. "You're welcome. It was nice to meet you."

Before Sting can ask his name, the door slides shut in his face. Sting lets a tiny sigh escape his lips, not believing the events that had just happened. He was on the same floor as the hottest, cutest guy he'd ever met in his life. And he was a journalist. So nerdy...just like Sting. If only he knew his name...and if he was available...and if he's even into guys...

Shoving all of these thoughts out of his head, Sting moves towards his room to get everything organized. He had a long day ahead of him.

Sting hated it when he had too much on his mind. The jitters left over from the rest of the day, as well as the anticipation of starting college were making his stomach churn uncontrollably. Deciding that it would be a good idea to go get something to eat, Sting exits his room and walks down the hall to the kitchen area on his floor. Dressed in a pair of white pajama pants and a pair of fluffy blue slippers, he shuffles towards the fridge. Having brought his phone with him just in case, the screen suddenly lights up. Sting is all the way across the country from his father, so it doesn't surprise him to be getting a text at 2am.

Unlocking his phone to read the text, Sting finds that it's from his father:

{Sting, my dear boy, I am so proud of you and making your way all the way to Magnolia, the best college in the country. I know you'll continue to make me proud just like you always have. I hope this fresh start makes you happy as you advance to the next step in your life. I love you. Daddy Weiss~}

Sting suddenly begins to feel a bit lightheaded. Homesickness washes over him like a storm, curling up inside of his stomach. His lip trembles slightly, and he bites down on his tongue. His phone screen begins to blur as tears prick the corners of his eyes. Even though he hated his life back at home, he loved his dad dearly. When he was home, the two of them would mess around with technology, play sports and cards, and fix up the house. Not only that, his father was a dynamite cook, something that Sting could never master. He was going to be living off of Cup of Noodles for the next few months. But overall, his father was a kind and caring man who accepted Sting for who he was without even a moment's hesitation. His reaction to his son's coming out was, "Ah, well, you've never been straight to the point, have you?", to which Sting had laughed for a full five minutes.

This memory causes the tears welling up in his eyes to fall, creating wet trails on his cheeks. Unable to control himself, sobs escape from between his lips as he falls to his knees on the kitchen tile. His phone drops from his hand, clattering to the floor. Burying his face in his hands, he tries to control himself.

The sound of a door opening down the hall gets his attention. Peeking through the gaps in his fingers, he sees a shadowy figure in a loose black shirt approaching the kitchen area. Holding up his cell phone, he shines its' flashlight down on Sting's face. "Oh," a familiar, soft voice says. "It's you."

Trying to blink away his tears, Sting squints upward at the boy, trying to see through the light. He lowers the phone a bit so Sting can properly see, revealing their identity as the boy from the elevator. And not just any boy from the elevator...the cute one. Once again, Sting freezes up. He can't believe his horrible luck. Why does it have to be the hot guy who finds him as a blubbering mess on the communal kitchen floor at 2am?

"I heard a banging sound," the boy continues softly. "I'm in Room 701, so I hear pretty much everything that happens in here..." He squats down on the floor next to Sting, his dark bangs falling in front of his face. "What's wrong? Are you worried about college? Trust me, it's not as bad as it sounds... I've already been here for a year."

Sting shakes his head, furiously wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. "Sorry for waking you up," he croaks. "And that's not the problem... I just...just..." He trails off, too embarrassed to admit that he's sobbing from homesickness.

"There's no need to apologize." The boy's voice is surprisingly smooth. "I was already awake... I've been working on my report..." He yawns slightly, making Sting's heart skip a beat. "Oh...I just realized how rude I've been. My name's Rogue, by the way. I'm 18... I got into collage a year early because I skipped a grade."

"I-I'm Sting," the blond replies, sniffing. "Nice to m-meet you."

"Nice to meet you as well," Rogue smiles. He reaches out a hand towards Sting. "C'mon. That floor's really dirty. Let's get ourselves some coffee. Then you can come back to my dorm for a little while if you'd like, since you're having a rough first night."

Sting feels his cheeks turn slightly pink. The offer was innocent, but his mind wandered naturally before he could stop it. Before he could change his mind, he was nodding vigorously and taking Rogue's hand. Rogue pulls him to his feet, then proceeds to make some coffee for them. The moments of waiting were perfectly silent. Sting simply bit down on his lip, trying not to cry again. Everything was just so...odd. He was standing here, completely shirtless in a communal kitchen at a collage while a hot 'stranger' made him coffee. Not only that, it was 2am. And the lights in the kitchen barely worked.

After what felt like hours, Rogue takes Sting by the hand again and leads him to Room 701. Rogue pushes upon the door, having left his door unlocked. Artwork, inspirational quotes, and newspaper articles cover the walls on half of the room. The other half is covered with heavy metal posters and strange iron sculptures. "Oh, that's my older brother's stuff," Rogue explains. "He's kind of rude sometimes, so don't mind him if he shows up at some point... He's out with his girlfriend for tonight, but who knows with him. He's not much of a stick-to-the-plan kind of guy."

Sting nods, still completely silent. Rogue sits down on his bed, and Sting takes the gray beanbag. He sips the hot coffee in his hands, feeling the warmth flood down his throat and into his chest. He takes deep breaths, trying to completely work away the feeling of anxiety.

"Are you willing to talk?" Rogue finally asks, picking up his glasses that are on his bedside table and beginning to clean them. "If not, I understand..."

"I'm just homesick," Sting admits hesitantly, looking down at his coffee cup. "A-Although I suppose I'm a little scared I'm going to be judged for quite a few things...m-mainly my...my..." He stops for a moment, his heart pounding. "My sexuality."

To his surprise, a wide smile spreads across Rogue's face. "You're in luck," he says, "as there's a lot of queer people at his school, including me." Pleasantly surprised by this fact, Sting chokes on his coffee. Rogue's eyes widen, dropping his glasses onto his bed. He leaps to his feet, swiftly moving over towards the blond. "You okay?!" he asks worriedly, placing a hand on Sting's shoulder.

Sting nods, finally getting the liquid down. "Phew. Yeah, sorry. That's just great news...my last school was judgmental hell."

"As was mine," Rogue replies softly. He runs his fingers through his thick hair. "Although I suppose that's just the way high school is..." Turning back towards Sting, he smiles and says, "But that's in the past now... Now we're someplace better."

Finally, Sting's face erupts into a huge, toothy grin. "Damn right!" To his elation (and shock), Rogue's cheeks turn slightly pink. He turns away in an almost shy manner, moving back towards his bed. Sting takes a deep breath, working up his courage as he says, "Look, I know we just met, but I really like you and I'd love to get to know you better... Do you think we could meet up at some point for a meal or something?" Rogue freezes. Sting feels his face turn red, embarrassed that once again, he was getting ahead of himself. "Uh I-I mean, if you'd like to, you don't have to-"

Rogue finally turns around, his glasses back on his face as a warm smile spreads across his lips. "There," he says softly. "I can see you better now." He looks down at his feet shyly, then finally says, "And I accept your offer. Maybe...lunch tomorrow? I know a good deli that's right across the street from the Preforming Arts building."

Not believing his ears, Sting eagerly leaps to his feet. "Really?!" In his excitement, he spills his coffee all over his bare chest. Yelping from pain, as the coffee was quite hot, Sting finds himself with tears in his eyes again. He couldn't believe how wimpy he was being. It must because of the time. Rogue bolts into the bathroom as fast as lightning, then rushes out with a damp washcloth. He quickly wipes the hot liquid from Sting's chest, not even fazed by the lack of a shirt. Finally able to breathe normally, Sting manages a 'thank you'.

"Of course," Rogue chuckles. "A little clumsy, are we?"

"More than a little," Sting mumbles in reply, an amused smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He pauses for a moment, then turns to look at Rogue. "Hey." Rogue looks Sting deep in the eyes, a little surprised. "Thanks for all of this. I needed someone to talk to... When I told myself I'd be okay alone...that was a lie. I'm glad I met you, honestly."

"Me too," Rogue replies, looking at him straight on. He takes a step closer, placing both hands on the other boy's shoulders. "I can't wait to get to know you better. I'm already looking forward to it."

"Heh, so am I," Sting blushes, looking away from the other boy's vibrant ruby eyes. Shifting nervously, he finally manages out, "Oh, uh, I should probably head back to my own room..."

Rogue nods in understanding. "Probably a good idea. You don't want to be tired for tomorrow." He smiles again, his whole face lighting up. "Goodnight, Sting."

Sting grins back at him, suddenly feeling confident. "Goodnight, Roguie~" Rogue's entire face turns red. Sting holds back laughter as he heads out the door, empty coffee cup in his hands. By the time he lies down in his own bed, he's exhausted. The smile never left his face. With the way his heart was beating, he knew that this wasn't going to a friendship for very long, if at all. This had been a hectic day, that was for sure, but at least he'd met someone as wonderful as Rogue.


	2. Chapter 2: In Which I Fuck Up Again

“The code is #A3D,” the teacher drones on. “So in order to make it activate, you must click a series of keys in a certain order: in this case, Alt, Ctrl, Enter, Shift-”  
Sting slumps down in his seat, trying to hide behind his monitor. Sure, this was the first day of class, but it was getting boring real fast. He’d learned all of this in High School, around Junior year. And they called this a college course... 

Groaning, he slowly pulls up an internet browser. He decides to research journalism and creative writing, simply because he wanted to be able to hold a steady conversation with Rogue at lunch today. Since computer programming was extremely confusing, Sting figured that wouldn’t really be the greatest conversation topic. Scrolling through links, his brow furrows. He didn’t understand any of this. Character developmental processes? Research and analysis styles? It sounded vaguely familiar to things he’d learned in English class, but he’d never really paid any attention. English wasn’t his forte: he was much better with math and science. Coding had become his expertise, the one and only thing that he almost always knew what to do. He himself had created webpages, online games, and animations.

“Eucliffe?” the professor’s voice rings from the front of the room. “Are you paying attention?”

Trying to hide the fact that he was guilty as hell, Sting calmly replies, “Of course, sir.”

“What did I just say?” the professor sighs.

Now, right here was where Sting could get mouthy. He was so tempted to reply with ‘you asked me if I was paying attention’, but that probably wouldn’t go over well. Missing his lunch with Rogue was definitely not on his agenda today. So instead, he glances at the projection at the front of the class and says, “After copying and pasting the code, you need to link it to the others around it using-”

“That’s ahead of where we are,” the professor sounds both irritated and impressed. “You know what you’re doing, I’ll give you that. However, that is no reason to not be paying attention. It’s always good to go over your skills and refresh, especially after a long summer.”

“Yes, sir,” Sting sighs, closing his extra window and quickly catching up to the class. He ends up passing the professor, creating the needed code. Sting reaches for the coffee sitting on the table. It was cold and bitter, not at all appetizing. In that moment, Sting longs for the dark, rich coffee Rogue had made him the night before. He looks at the monitor beside him, watching as the blonde with strange spiky headphones plays a game on the computer. His fingers move lightning fast as his character jumps and flips.

“What game is that?” Sting whispers, completely surprised that this guy was able to hide this, especially since he was tall and wearing headphones.

The man grunts. “Somethin’ I made myself. Now leave me alone, kid. I don’t associate with Freshman.”

Miffed by how rude this guy was, Sting turned away. “Fine. Jeez. What an ass.”

He takes another sip of the bitter coffee, holding back a cough. God, was he dehydrated. Not only that, he had a headache. The room was much too dark for this. Sting wished he was able to use his laptop instead of this clunky school desk computer.

BE-BOO-DE-BOO. BE-BOO-DE-BOO.

Sting breathes a sigh of relief at the sound of the tri-tone bell, saving his project and putting the computer in sleep mode. The professor is talking about something, probably homework, but Sting ignores him. He knows that he can’t afford to get a bad grade, but the homework is simply ‘practice’, which Sting doesn’t need to do at all. Grabbing his laptop case, he leaves the classroom in a rush. He throws the disgusting coffee in the trash, knowing that he’s going to get a much better drink now.

“Excuse me?” a girly voice asks. He turns his head to look at a short blue-haired girl with a pencil behind her ear. “Are you in the computer programming class?”

“Yeah, I am,” he replies, adjusting the beanie on his head. “What’s up?”

“Do you think you could stay here for a moment so I can get an interview for my class report?” she continues, opening a tiny notebook, “I’m in journalism.”

“Levy,” a familiar voice says. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to get someone else.” She turns her head to reveal a dark-haired teen with glasses: Rogue. “I’m interviewing him at lunch today.”

“Oh, sorry, Ryos,” Levy smiles. “I’ll find someone else.” She closes the notebook. “Either that, or I’ll just interview Gajeel on metalworking...” She waves cheerfully as she walks away, “See you in class tomorrow! Have a good interview~” She winks slightly, causing Rogue’s cheeks to turn pink.

He turns back to Sting, rubbing the back of his neck. “Shall we?”

“This is just for an interview?” Sting frowns, disappointment filling his stomach. The two of them begin to walk through the hallways, Rogue holding a notebook and Sting with laptop case slung over his shoulder.

“No,” Rogue turns to look at Sting, his red eyes smiling from behind his glasses. “It’s just part of it. I simply needed to interview someone from another major, so I figured you’d work, since I’ve already set aside time for you.”

“Wait, hold on,” Sting looks at Rogue quizzically. “She called you Ryos?”  
A sigh escapes Rogue’s parted lips. “She’s dating my older brother, Gajeel. That’s his nickname for me. See, when I was younger, I hated my name... So I went by the name of Ryos through elementary school. Once I reached middle school, I changed my name back. But my brother got so used to it that it just stuck. My parents call me Ryos too, except for when they’re mad. Then they go all ‘Rogue Cheney-Redfox’ on me.”

“Cheney-Redfox, huh?” Sting grins. “I like it. My last name’s Eucliffe. Just Eucliffe. Super easy to remember.”

“My parents wanted a joined name,” sighs Rogue. “My mother’s last name is Cheney, and my father’s is Redfox.”

“Gonna be confusing when you get married,” Sting comments. Realizing how awkward that sounded, Sting quickly changes his mistake. “I-I mean, if you were to add your spouse’s name onto yours for some reason.”

Rogue rolls his eyes, not even fazed. He seemed strangely used to these kind of situations. Sting kind of understood where he was coming from, being queer himself. You did just kind of get used to things like this after a while.

“So, where is this deli exactly?” Sting asks quickly, trying to change the subject.

“I told you this morning, it’s across the street from the Preforming Arts Building.” Rogue’s voice is surprisingly patient, even though Sting knows he’s being annoying. “It’s not far, I promise.”

“Ya know, you’re being really tolerant of me,” Sting laughs. “People normally tell me to fuck off rather than keep the conversation up.”

“Those people are morons, then,” Rogue turns to look at Sting, his expression neutral. “They are missing out on such a bright personality.”

Heat rises to Sting’s cheeks, shocked at the compliment. “Th-Thanks,” he stammers, not sure what else to say.

“I’m only telling you the truth,” Rogue replies smoothly. Damn, Sting had no clue how this guy knew exactly what to say, but he did. And somehow he managed to it with barely any emotion in his dark, rich voice.

“U-Uh, well, I think you’re pretty interesting too,” Sting manages out. He cringes at how awkward it sounds. He hated his own voice with a passion, especially when it stuttered the way it just did.

Rogue chuckles, taking the compliment like a champion. “Thank you.”

“Heh, ya welcome,” Sting replies, trying to sound smooth and cool. He’s pretty sure he failed miserably, but who knows. Honestly, he had no idea how he’d even had a love life up to this point if he was this bad at flirting and compliments.

The two of them walk towards the Preforming Arts Building, their shoulders brushing up against one another for a brief moment. Sting shivers, feeling electricity from their touch.  
Many students pass by them, including a redheaded girl holding hands with a boy with a tattoo on his right eye. After congratulating the boy for a good audition, she moves on to talking about how she got stage freight once again. The boy then suggests that she should simply work with the props and costumes, since she loves them so much.

For a moment, Sting longs to have a connection like that. The girl’s face lights up so much, her brown eyes sparkling as she strikes a pose. The boy sweatdrops, but has a fond smile on his lips. Sting pushes away this sudden need for love, reminding himself that he’s walking side by side with Rogue Cheney-Redfox, and needs to focus on that if he’s getting anywhere in that department. After all, Sting had come to the quick obvious conclusion that he was crushing on Rogue. Seriously though, who wouldn’t? He had this air of mystery that was alluring, as well as fitting the tall, dark, and handsome stereotype. Basically, he was perfection.

While Sting daydreams, Rogue moves to the crosswalk, pressing the button for them to cross. It instantly activates, and Rogue has to grab a startled Sting’s hand and pull him across. “The lights move fast here!” he explains once they reach the other side. 

Panting, Sting replies with, “Yeah, I can tell. Jeez.” Realizing that their hands are still joined, his cheeks flush. 

Rogue is unfazed, simply walking towards the deli not too far from where they stood. Sting follows behind him like a loyal puppy, being dragged by the journalist towards the entrance. Rogue pushes the glass doors open, a rush of cold air reaching Sting’s skin. Together the duo steps inside the deli, enjoying the temperature drop. Approaching the counter, Sting scans the menu.

“Ooooh, Roast Beef Supreme,” he grins. “Yes. Totally getting that.”

“I prefer their BLTs,” Rogue smiles. “They have excellent bacon here.” He laughs slightly. “And to think that I had a vegetarian phase.”

Sting chokes slightly. “You what?!”

Rogue laughs again good-naturedly. “Haha, yeah. I was a vegetarian in 7th grade. I got scared because I read an article about what meat can do to you, so I stopped eating it.” Sting’s mouth just hangs open, flabbergasted by this new information. Rogue continues on offhandedly. “Mind you, I was a gullible little 12 year-old.”

Again Sting splutters. “12?!” he squeaks.

“I told you, I skipped a grade,” Rogue sighs. “That grade was 5th.”

“No wonder things were so hard for you,” Sting says softly. “You were so much younger than everyone else...”

Rogue nods slowly. “Yes, I think that was big factor...” By this time they’ve reached the counter, the worker behind it waiting anxiously for them to order. “Sorry. We’ll take a Roast Beef Supreme and a BLT with mayonnaise. We’ll be sitting outside.” He turns back to Sting. “C’mon. Let’s go get a table.”

Sting follows Rogue back outside, picking up the plastic number as he goes. They choose a seat by the street underneath a reddish umbrella with the flower box right beside them. It feels really serene, like a scene from a movie. Magnolia University is far away from most other civilization: the businesses here make a living simply off of the college students.

“So, the interview,” Rogue smiles, pulling out his notebook.

“Oh yeah,” Sting groans. “Nearly forgot...” He rests his chin on his hand, placing his elbow on the table. “Not really sure if I have much to share though... Today was the first day.” He pauses for a moment, pondering something. “Hold on a sec. How come you said you had to work on project yesterday when school hadn’t started yet?”

“Oh, I was taking summer classes,” Rogue replies, pushing his bangs out his eyes. “It gives you a better chance of being hired, especially with the journalists in town.”

“That makes sense,” Sting says. “But summer school sounds shitty as hell... You must really like your teacher.”

Rogue laughs suddenly, surprising Sting. “Oh no. He’s not my favorite. He’s actually quite annoying... He is kind of immature and says the word ‘cool’ too much. But he’s a good mentor, none the less.”

“Huh. Sounds like a wackjob,” Sting replies with a grin.

Rogue chuckles. “Yes, he’s strange.”

“BLT with mayo and a Roast Beef?” The duo look up into the face of a white-haired girl with a kind smile. She sets down their plates in front of them, looking extremely joyful. “Oh, Rogue-sama, hello.”

“Hello, Yukino,” he smiles back at her. Turning to Sting, he introduces them. “Sting, this is Yukino. She’s a good friend of mine who works here and is majoring in culinary arts. Yukino this is Sting, my...uh...” He stops suddenly, unsure of what to call him. His cheeks flush slightly and he averts his eyes. “Friend.”

Sting feels slightly victorious that Rogue lost his cool for a moment, because that doesn’t seem to be a common thing. Yukino giggles. “Oh, I see~” She winks at Sting cheerfully, then says, “Have a good meal, you two!”

Once she leaves, Sting digs into his sandwich. Rogue sighs, setting down the notebook. He looks like he’s concentrating on something very intently.

“What’s wrong?” Sting asks, swallowing a piece of bread.

“Oh, just thinking about the interview...” sighs Rogue, stirring his water with his straw. “Do you really not have anything to share?”

“I was ahead of pretty much the whole class,” Sting comments. “So it was pretty boring and pointless.”

Rogue has to hold back a smile, happy that his time with Sting is going to be less serious than he thought. “That’s a bummer,” he replies.

“Yeah, I wish that we could start with things that are more interesting,” Sting pouts. He takes another sloppy bite from his sandwich, then chews slowly.  
For some reason, he and Rogue are suddenly staring into each other’s eyes. Neither one of them wants to be the first to break eye contact. Sting’s chewing gets slower and slower as the situation becomes more and more awkward. 

He swallows almost nervously, still not breaking eye contact. He can feel heat rising to his cheeks, both embarrassed out of his mind and thinking ‘oh my god Rogue looks so damn hot right now’. Across the table, Rogue’s cheeks are also tainted pink. Sting can feel his eyes start to get moist from lack of blinking. He wants to blink so, so bad, but this strange awkward moment for some reason didn’t want to be broken.

He moves his hand towards his water glass, but his eyes are still fixed on the dark-haired boy in front of him. Boy was that a mistake. Instantly water sloshes all over the table, drenching Sting’s napkin and his pants. But worst of all, the water soaks clean through Rogue’s leather notebook. Sting’s blue eyes widen in shock and fear, finally blinking. Rogue’s mouth drops open in surprise, watching as the water ruins his notebook. After a moment of being too stunned to move, he quickly jumps out of his seat, then snatches his notebook from the puddle and holds it to his chest.

Sting’s the first to speak, blurting out, “OH MY FUCKING GOD I’M SO SORRY ROGUE!” He looks ready to die of shame and embarrassment, internally beating himself up for being such a klutz. He quickly begins to clean up the mess with any dry napkins he can find, trying to make any more eye contact.

“No, it’s alright...” Rogue is obviously upset, even if he was trying to hide it, as that notebook had all of his notes from all summer long in it. Sting felt like shit. He couldn’t believe all of the things he’d done in these past two days. He was just ruining everything. With a sick feeling in his stomach, he watches as Rogue slowly turns through the soaked pages. The pencil is smudged to the point of being illegible, while any pen is bleeding down and through the paper. “I’ll live...” the Rogue says softly.

Sting bites down on his lip, drawing a tiny bit of blood. “Sorry, excuse me for a sec.” 

Still holding the now-wet napkins, Sting rushes to the restroom. After throwing them away, he collapses to the floor. “ARRUGH!” he screams, holding his head in his hands. “WHY AM I SO BAD AT THIS?!” He takes continuous deep breaths, desperately trying to calm himself down. His heart is pounding a mile a minute, slamming painfully against his ribcage. “Calm down, Sting,” he mumbles to himself. “Everything’s going to be fine... You just need to calm down...”

After what felt like ages, Sting fixes his beanie, then heads back out to the table. He finds Rogue sitting there with a worried expression on his face, staring at his half-eaten sandwich. Spotting Sting, he lets out a sigh of relief. “Thank god, I thought I scared you off.”

“Nah,” Sting waves a dismissive hand. “You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

To Sting’s relief, Rogue chuckles at that. Sting notices the notebook is gone, but doesn’t question it. For some reason, Sting just knows that it’s in the trash. He isn’t sure how it makes him feel, honestly. All he knew was that it was his fault.

The meal continues, but the atmosphere really wasn’t the same. The conversation felt forced, and the whole time all Sting could think about was how badly he had fucked up. It really put a damper on the whole ‘I’m out to lunch with a hot guy’ thing. Sting finishes as quickly as he can, then stands up. He decides to lie, done with the awkwardness he had caused. “Uh, I just remembered that I have homework. I’m so sorry...” He shifts slightly, the lie making him feel guilty. Quickly he switches to telling the truth once more. “Uh... I had fun... So sorry about your notebook...”

Rogue sends him a small smile. “Sting, please don’t worry about the notebook, alright? It’s not that big of a deal. I know everything that was inside of it already. It’s just a bunch of old notes that I bet could find online somewhere, and the notebook was barely $5. There’s no need to be so broken-up over it.”

“But I still ruined it...” Sting slumps his shoulders, pushing his hands into his pockets. “I destroyed something of yours...”

“It was an accident,” Rogue sighs. “Please, Sting, I don’t like it when you’re upset... You’re a much more attractive person when you smile.” Instantly Sting’s cheeks flare up. Realizing what he said, Rogue turns pink and stammers out, “H-Happiness is always a g-good thing, right?”

A tiny bit of hope in his chest, Sting nods. “Yeah.” He slowly lets his grin spread back across his features, unable to hold it back because godamn was Rogue adorable when flustered.

“There’s the smile I was talking about,” Rogue touches Sting’s shoulder gently. “Come on, now. Back to the dorms for you.”

“Yeah,” Sting repeats, too dazed to say much else. He lets Rogue drag him back to the 7th floor of the dorm building, then lets himself into his room. They exchange a quick goodbye, and then Sting proceeds to collapse on his bed and stare at the ceiling. It was time for brainstorming. 

He needed a way to get $5.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not my best work, but I hope you liked it nonetheless! Thank you to everyone who gave kudos/comments, I love you~


	3. Chapter 3: I Am an Unlucky Bastard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter reminded me of how much I effing love domestic-y Stingue fluff X’D
> 
> Just so you know, I’ve never actually seen Titanic, I’ve only watched the scene where Rose almost jumps (simply for context XD) so if I got details wrong please tell me. I don’t mind spoilers I honestly don’t care I’ve so many for this movie XD (But please don’t spoil other things for me X’D)

“The square root of 36 is 6, so you multiply the variable by 3, then take the greatest common multiple of the denominator-”

“Kill me,” Sting groans, slamming his forehead against the desk in front of him. Math is his nightmare. As a computer tech, he should be good at math, but his efforts were mostly to no avail. Everything was just so fuckin’ confusing! How was anyone supposed to do this shit, and memorize it nonetheless?!

Sting sneaks a look at his cellphone, which light up as he presses the home button. He had email, 3 texts, and a missed call. The call was spam (someone with a Crocus area code). The first text was a wrong number. The second was from Yuka in his computer class asking if they had homework. Sting quickly texted back ‘no’, then checked his final message. To his compete and total elation, it was from Rogue.

‘Are you free on Saturday? My friends Natsu and Gray are going to the city’s baseball game and happened to have two extra tickets. I was going to bring my brother my brother but I’d rather bring you... Please get back to me ASAP...look forward to seeing you at some point. Hope your classes are going well today :)’

Sting’s heart swells, then skips in his chest. It would be a complete and total lie to deny that he was crushing on the dark-haired journalist. Shakily Sting texts back: ‘do u always text in paragraphs? Aha of course I’m free I’d LOVE to go w/ u. ur friends sound coolio.’

When the little bubble pops up that proves he’s answering, Sting can feel sweat glazing his palms. Quickly he exits his Messages and goes into his email. His eyes widen in surprise. It was the China Palace staff (a restaurant he applied to work at). Did his application get accepted?

‘Dear Mr. Sting Eucliffe,  
We regretfully have to inform you that we do not have any jobs-’

“Shit,” Sting hisses under his breath, but keeps reading.

‘-open for waiters. However, if you would be willing, we could use assistance in cleaning up afterhours (from about 10pm to 11pm). We will pay you $10 each night, as long as you are there the full hour. Otherwise we will only pay you $5. We understand that you are a university student, and therefore will be lenient on how many days a week you show up. Please try to come at least 3 nights a week, preferably one of those days being a Saturday. Please contact us with conformation as well as any questions you may have.  
Thank You,  
China Palace Staff’

“Guess I spoke too soon,” Sting mutters. He sighs out loud. It wasn’t what he’d been hoping for, but it was still something. But why Saturdays? Groaning, he quickly formulates a response.

‘Thank you for considering my application. I can work in assisting the cleaners three days a week. I have a previous engagement that’s rather important this upcoming Saturday, so maybe I could start next week? Thank you for your consideration, I really need this job...  
Sting Eucliffe’

Just as the email sends, Rogue’s response appears at the top of the screen.

‘Sting, I’m so pleased you can come, I was...’ Sting clicks on the message to read the remainder of the response. ‘...worried that you would have to turn me down because of some sort of work issue. And yes, my texts tend to be long-winded. Now put your phone away before you get caught, idiot.’

Sting bites back an amused snort, quickly texting back, ‘pfft put YOUR phone away too, ya bastard. Detention would suck ass :P seeya’

‘Goodbye, Sting :)’

Sting slides his phone away, but his mind is still quite distracted. The rest of class fades into nothing, and all Sting think about is how Rogue will look with a baseball cap, and the way he will smile with excitement as their team makes a good play.

He could hardly wait.

Sting throws his bag down with an exhausted groan. At this point, all he wanted to do was curl up on the couch in the movie room and watch adventure movies. He was tired as fuck, and definitely not in the mood for homework.

After putting on his sweatpants and a blue t-shirt that read ‘Sarcastic Comment: Loading’ on it, he shuffles towards the TV room. To his annoyance, the door is closed, which means that it most likely is in use. Deciding that he might as well check, he shoves open the door with his right hand.

The large TV casts light on Sting’s face, temporarily blinding him. Eventually the screen comes into focus. A young man is sitting on a dock, gazing out at the ocean. The scene takes place at sunset. In his hand is a small shell. He begins to sing softly with no background music. Sting manages to pick up faint sobs coming from the couch. The song is about losing the light you treasured, or something along those lines. In other words, hella depressing.

Sting is silent, not wanting to be rude to whoever is watching the movie and interrupt such a heart-wrenching scene. Of course, it wasn’t sad to Sting, as he had no idea what was happening, but the quiet sobbing coming from the couch was a large enough indicator. Either that, or they were a wimp.

The credits suddenly roll, the man’s voice vanishing as an instrumental takes over. Sting clears his throat, as his philosophy was once the credits start the movie is over. The person on the couch whirls their head around, eyes wide. Their dark hair is a rumpled mess, their glasses are perched precariously on the end of their nose, and the baggy black shirt they wore is slipping off one shoulder. “Sting?”

“Rogue?” Sting frowns, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. Rogue hastily clears a spot for Sting to sit, moving the popcorn bowl to his lap and brushing the candy wrappers to the floor.

“Sorry,” he apologizes. “I had no homework tonight so I figured I’d take a lazy evening.”

“Oh jeez, no need to apologize,” Sting snorts as he sits down next to him on the couch. Rogue looks so comfy, a gray blanket covering him from the waist down. He takes off his glasses to swipe furiously at his eyes, then places them back on his nose.

Sting’s eyes can’t help but to wander to Rogue’s exposed shoulder. His smooth skin looked pale in the dim light of the TV, like porcelain. Sting wanted nothing more than to brush his fingers against that exposed skin, comforting the darker haired boy out of crying. He pushes those thoughts out of his mind, because honestly, he wasn’t 100% sure of Rogue’s sexuality. Sure, he’d mentioned he was in the spectrum, but hadn’t said where. And Sting wasn’t one to push boundaries with people, especially if he didn’t know them that well. It was honestly hard for him to believe they’d met only recently.

Sting clears his throat, trying to break the sudden tense silence that had come between them. “Uh, so, what were you watching?”

“Oh, just...a movie...” Rogue flushes, looking away from Sting’s face.

Sting smirks, adding an extra inquisitive tone to his next question, “Is it a pervy movie?”

“Oh god, no!” Rogue exclaims, turning even redder. “It’s just...it was a depressing romance movie, okay? A chick flick!” He tries to hide behind his bangs, cheeks still furiously red.

‘Fuck...he looks so cute...’ Sting thinks, realizing that Rogue is rarely ever shy. “What’s that to be embarrassed about? Guys may lie and say they hate chick flicks, but to be honest, most guys love them just as much as girls do. At least, most of the guys I know.”

Rogue laughs softly. “Yeah... I was just worried... I don’t know...that’d you think I was weird...”

Sting quickly shakes his head, “N-No, I don’t think you’re weird at all, you’re really cu- uh, cool!” Sting mentally slaps himself. He is such a wreck around people he crushes on, and he knows it. 

Rogue laughs again. “Thank you, Sting.” He pauses, reaching for his Dr. Pepper. After talking a long swig, he continues. “I was going to marathon a few others...would you be willing to watch them with me?”

“Sure,” Sting replies, trying to not to show his excitement. Rogue shifts, as if he’s about to stand up when Sting places a hand on his knee. “I got it. You look really comfortable, I don’t want to force you to move.”

Rogue’s red eyes widen slightly in surprise. “Oh.” His cheeks turn pink again. “Thank you.”

As Sting moves towards the stack of movies sitting by the TV, he can’t help but to wonder how Rogue can keep his cool so easily in situations like these. Does he not feel any attraction to Sting? Sting holds back a sigh. He hates crushing on people. They never seem to return his feelings. But maybe he was overthinking it... “Uh, what movie did you want to watch next? I’m assuming you rented these?”

“Oh, I was thinking Titanic next,” Rogue replies, sipping his Dr. Pepper again.

“Titanic it is.” Sting slides the movie into the DVD player, then hops back onto the couch. “Just curious, do you have Netflix?”

“I don’t,” Rogue sounds a little sad. “I don’t have the money for it... I barely have money for my cellphone bill. My job pays, but not well enough.” He sighs to himself as Sting makes himself comfortable. “I work at the rental place anyways, so I get to either take them for free or get discounts.”

Sting nods, pulling his feet up as the movie starts. They sit in silence for a while, watching the action on the screen.

Sting frowns as Rose runs across the deck, picking up her skirts and sobbing uncontrollably. She passes Jack, heading towards the railing. Sting’s eyes widen. He can feel Rogue stiffen beside him, suddenly tense.

“I can’t watch,” Sting manages out, turning away. He’d always been uncomfortable with things like this. Sure, he’d had mild depression for some time, but never to the point of suicidal. Things like this made him uncomfortable. He can feel Rogue suddenly clinging onto his arm, shaking slightly. Sting looks over at him, noticing that the other boy’s face was dangerously pale. “Rogue?”

“I’m fine,” Rogue replies quietly. “I just...don’t like this kind of stuff...”

“Me either,” Sting admits. He breathes a sigh of relief as Jack starts talking to Rose, coaxing her down from the railing. When she trips, Rogue makes a strangled sound from beside him and buries his face into the dark blue sleeve of Sting’s shirt. Sting’s breathing is uneasy, but his eyes are fixed on the screen.

The scene passes, and Sting ends up throwing popcorn at the TV when the men assume Jack assaulted Rose. Rogue is still trembling from beside him, but he calms down within a few minutes. Sting feels bad for him, but at the same time, he silently celebrates the fact that Rogue is now sitting like five times closer to him.

They watch the rest of the movie in silence, ending with them sobbing uncontrollably over the ending. Sting feels like a wimp, but Rogue is crying just as hard as he is, so it makes him feel a bit better.

After wiping their streaming eyes, the duo sits in silence on the couch as the credits roll. “I think I’ve had enough crying for the night,” Rogue laughs shakily, breaking the silence.  
Sting desperately wants to pull him into his arms and hold him close, whispering soothing words into his ear and running his fingers through Rogue’s dark hair. He wants to kiss Rogue’s forehead, hold his hand, wipe away those tears...

Suddenly realizing how stupid it is to think like this about someone you just met, Sting shoves the thoughts out of his head. Denying his love was impossible, but that didn’t mean he had to keep thinking about it. No, he needed to keep his feelings hidden until he was sure of how Rogue felt. Just because he blushes around Sting sometimes doesn’t mean he’s in love...

“Uh, Sting?”

Sting’s head snaps up. “H-Huh?! What?!”

“I asked you a question...” Rogue trails off awkwardly.

“O-Oh-!” Sting’s cheeks flush red. “Y-Yeah, uh...can you repeat that?!”

Rogue sighs, and to Sting’s relief, a small, fond smile spreads across his lips. “I asked you if you’d like to watch something else or go to bed.”

“Do you have any board or card games?” The question slips out of Sting’s mouth before he can stop it, and he’s not sure whether or not he regrets it.

Rogue’s eyes widen a tiny bit, then relax. “Yeah, I have some back in my room. Shall we clean up and head over there?”

“Can I go get some socks?” Sting asks. “My feet are cold...” He wiggles his bare toes for emphasis, then realizes how awkward that must seem. His already crimson cheeks burn even redder as he stammers out, “Y-Yeah, I’ll just go get some.” He grabs some of the trash left behind, not wanting to be rude, and quickly rushes to his room.

“Get a hold of yourself!” Sting hisses. “Jeez,” he mumbles as he pulls on a pair of fuzzy rainbow socks, “these pep-talks to myself have been becoming more frequent...I’m going crazy...godammit Rogue, look what you’re doing to me...!”

He stands there, breathing heavily as he tries to calm his racing heart. “I’m getting déjà vu from the lunch we had...I ran away then too, didn’t I...?” Sting bangs his head against the wall. “Fuuuuuck. He probably knows...he knows.”

Just then, a loud knock sounds on his door. Sting shuffles to the door and opens it, revealing some grumpy looking guy with a scar across his eye, spiky hair, and purple eyes. “Oi. Shut the hell up. Some people in this shithole are actually trying to sleep.”

“S-Sorry,” Sting stammers.

The other man sneers. “Whatever.” He then promptly slams Sting’s door in his face. Sting can hear him stalking off to his room, which is either 708 or 706. Sting breathes a sigh of relief. That guy was scary. Sting hesitantly opens the door, then slowly makes his way to Rogue’s dorm room. He knocks on the door, his hand shaking. The door opens almost instantly, revealing Rogue in the same outfit as before, just with a scarf now.

“I was cold,” he chuckles. “Come in, I’ve picked out a few games.”

“Thanks,” Sting grins, entering and shutting the door behind him.

They end up sprawled on the floor, Dr. Pepper, chips, and pizza that they had delivered to their room strewn about the floor. Sting discovered that Rogue is bomb at Scrabble, but is no match for Sting in Uno. They also played a round of Poker, using Starburst as betting chips. It got extremely competitive, and ended with the two of them laughing on the floor amongst the trash until tears came into their eyes.

Wheezing slightly, Rogue notices Sting’s socks. “Nice socks.”

Sting grins. “Thanks. Gay pride and all. That, and they’re super comfy.”

“All for gay pride,” Rogue chuckles, and Sting’s heart skips a beat.

“Y-Yeah, well, gotta flaunt it,” Sting laughs nervously, then quickly shoves a piece of pizza into his mouth. He is such a mess and he knows it.

Rogue chuckles again, moving his hands behind his head. Sting has his left arm behind his own hand, his right arm outstretched to hold the slice of pizza in front of him. The moonlight streams through Rogue’s dorm window, casting white light on the two of them. Sting felt so at ease and just so fantastically...gay. To him, it felt like the first time in his life he was thankful for his sexuality. Because this moment to him was everything. To others, it would seem like some ordinary, domestic thing, but Sting hadn’t felt this relaxed and happy in years.

“Rogue?” he says softly.

“Hmm?”

Sting sweats slightly, mentally working himself up over something that wasn’t even that important. “Uh...I just wanted you to know I had a lot of fun hanging out with you...we should do this more often.”

He turns his head to the side to look at Rogue, finding that the darker haired boy had done the same. One of Rogue’s hands was now free, hanging loose by his hip. He smiles at Sting, red eyes sparkling as he replies gently, “I’d love to.”

Sting’s heart is pounding. All he wants to do is lean over and kiss those lips painted by the soft moonlight, just a simple brush of his own lips against Rogue’s. He shoves back his nearly overwhelming temptations, instead cramming the last bite of pizza into his mouth. His now free hand lies limp on the floor, his fingertips brushing against a candy wrapper. Slowly, hoping that Rogue wouldn’t freak out, Sting begins to slide that hand across the floor towards Rogue’s free hand. Almost...there...

BANG!

The door suddenly slams open, causing Sting to sit bolt upright as if he’d been shot. Rogue sighs, seemingly used to this behavior.

“WHERE THE FUCK IS METAL HEAD DAMMIT I’M SO SICK OF HIM BASHING GRAY AND LUCY WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL WHERE IS THE BASTARD?!”

Sting swallows nervously, but Rogue simply groans. “Natsu, for the last time, my brother is not here. This is the third time in the past two days you’ve stormed in here. Can you please leave me alone?” He then lowers his voice to mutter to Sting, “My friend Natsu has a bit of a rivalry with my brother...”

Natsu’s voice seems to only get closer. “Sorry, what was that, I didn’t hear the last pa-” A pink-haired boy stands above Sting, dressed in a red t-shirt that read “Spicy” in flaming letters, a loose pair of black basketball shorts, and white socks. “Oh!” he exclaims when he sees Sting. Sting’s face flushes, quickly looking away from the stranger.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sting sees Natsu smirk. “Oh~ I see~ Is this why you don’t want me around, Rogue~?”

Rogue’s face turns crimson. “It’s just Sting, Natsu! You know, the new guy I’ve been telling you about?!”

“Oh, so you’re the new kid?” Natsu’s grin widens as he leans down and steals a piece of pizza from the box. He takes a huge bite, and then continues to talk with an extremely full mouth, “Coolio, you seem alright.”

“Oi, that was mine!” Sting exclaims, looking at the piece of pizza.

“Forget it, Sting,” Rogue sighs. “He always does this. He’s a mooch.”

“You got that right,” Natsu mumbles through layers of cheese and dough. After swallowing, he says, “So, Sting, does Rogue know what to do with his mouth?”

Sting chokes on his spit.

“GET OUT NOW!” Rogue shouts, face crimson as he stands up to steer Natsu from his room.

“I WAS JUST ASKIN’ AN INNOCENT QUESTION!” Natsu yells back as Rogue shoves him out of the room. On the way out, he snatches one more piece of pizza.

“INNOCENT MY ASS!” Rogue counters, finally pushing him out the door. “Now go away! Go find Gray or something!” With that, he slams the door in Natsu’s face.

Barely audible, Natsu’s muffled voice mumbles on the other side of the door, “Have fun...”

“Pervert,” Sting hears Rogue hiss, watching as the dark-haired boy tries to calm his raging blush. “Sorry,” he laughs nervously, looking at Sting. “He tends to do that a lot...he just gets overly excited about everything...and he’s kinda an idiot.”

“I-It’s fine,” Sting stammers, trying to hide his face behind the last slice of pizza. It isn’t working very well.

Rogue swallows nervously. “Uh...maybe you should go back to your room... Just so people don’t get the wrong idea...”

Sting’s heart sinks. Did Rogue really not see him in a romantic light at all? His stomach rises to his throat, but he shoves the burning sensation down. “Yeah...” he says softly, trying not to show his disappointment. “Uh...see you...”

“Bye,” Rogue mumbles, shifting his face so his bangs cover his eyes.

Feeling both humiliated and heartbroken, Sting stumbles back into his room and collapses into bed. There, he stares at the ceiling above him, his mind full of things he wished he could’ve said or done...

If only Natsu had stepped in a few moments later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tada~ Finally done. XD
> 
> I’m not sure whether or not I want to punch or hug Natsu right now X’D Little pervert...HE SHIPPPSSSS IT~
> 
> Anyways, I am now caught up to where I am on tumblr. This means updates will slow down. I am participating in NaNoWriMo this year with an original novel, so my time will be there. However, I WILL be participating in this year's STINGUE WEEK~! It's November 15th-23rd, and I will post oneshots in my oneshot collection! Be on the lookout~!
> 
> Thanks for much for all the commnents/kudos~! <3 I love you all~!


	4. Chapter 4: I Bat for the Other Team

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. Merry Christmas to all of my readers, love you all~ <3
> 
> A little longer chapter this time, I hope you enjoy ^.^
> 
> I apologize for any weird formatting, I don't know what my computer was doing ;-;

Sting was not expecting to be up any time before 11am on Saturday.

Sadly, his new friend had other ideas.

“YOOOOOOOOOO NEW KID!”  a voice shouts, banging on Sting’s door. “TIME TO GET UPPPPPP. WE’RE LEAVING FOR THE GAME IN LIKE 15 MINUTES. YOU OVERSLEPT BRO.”

Sting nearly falls out of bed. “WHAT THE FUCK 15 MINUTES?!” he screeches. “WHAT TIME DOES THE GAME START?!”

“1AM BUT WE NEED TO PARK, BUY LUNCH, AND GET THERE A GOOD TIME FOR THE GIVEAWAY!” Natsu yells back.

“IT’S FUCKING 9AM!”

“EXACTLY, GET MOVING, NEW KID!”

And with that, Natsu was gone.

Grumbling, Sting rubs the back of his head where he accidently banged his head on the headboard. “Damn...Rogue wasn’t lying when he said this guy gets overly excited...” Yawning, he trudges out of his room and into the communal kitchen, where he grabs a piece of bread, crams it into his mouth, and goes back to his room to change. He shoves on a white tank top, maroon jeans, his white Converse high tops, shoves a single gold loop earring into his pierced ear, and crams his trusty black beanie back onto his head. He is all set for game day....clothes wise. The rest of him was still waking up...aka having a mental breakdown.

“Shit...Rogue can’t see me like this,” Sting hisses, looking at the sheet lines on his face in the mirror. “I’m going to look like I’m lazy.”

“CAN YOU SHUT UP IT’S SATURDAY PEOPLE WANT TO SLEEP!”

Sting shivers. It is the same guy from earlier in the week: the one with the eye scar. He shakily moves out of the bathroom, hoping the sheet lines weren’t too terribly obvious. He shuffles to the door, yawning sleepily. He reaches for the knob, only to have it opened right in front of his face.

“Oh, there you are,” Rogue says. “I thought you were still in bed for a second.”

“Do you really expect me to sleep through your perverted pink-haired friend screaming like a banshee?!” Sting groans, yawning again.

A paper cup of coffee is pushed into his hand, warm and comforting. “Oh, I didn’t realize he came up here.” Rogue sighs dramatically, reaching into a small brown paper bag he is holding. “Sorry about that.”

“Eh, no problem, really,” Sting yawns, shifting the coffee between his palms. “I would’ve been a mess if you’d found me still in bed...I am _not_ a morning person...”

“I can tell,” Rogue chuckles, glancing at the sheet marks on Sting’s cheek.

Sting’s face flushes with embarrassment. “Aha...yeeeah.”

“Here,” Rogue hands Sting a single vanilla frosted doughnut wrapped in paper. “I figured you’d want something to eat.”

Sting’s eyes light up. “Dude, thank you so much! Doughnuts are the shit!” He bites into the pastry, humming in satisfaction. “Sprinkless too...yesssss.” He finishes chewing, then swallows hard. “I haven’t had a doughnut in like years.”

“The bakery is here is amazing,” Rogue smiles, pulling out his own doughnut. “C’mon, let’s go. We don’t want to miss the giveaway.”

“What is the giveaway?” Sting frowns, trailing after Rogue down the hallway.

“Shirts, I think,” Rogue replies. “For the star pitcher, Mard Geer.”

“Mard Geer,” Sting echoes. “Never heard of him.”

“Do you follow baseball?” Rogue asks as they step into the elevator. He clicks the ground floor button, watching as the door slides closed.

“Sorta?” Sting shrugs. “I just kind of followed it if my town’s team was in: Grimoire Heart.”

“Oh, Grimoire,” Rogue yawns, showing the first signs of sleepiness since he’d arrived at Sting’s door. “Yeah, they’ve been giving Tartaros a run for their money.”

Sting approaches the elevator, pushing the down arrow to open the doors. The door slides opens, revealing an arguing trio of white-haired kids, the only guy wailing about how scary some guy was. “HE WON’T LATE ME DATE HER! HE’S NOT A MAN!”

Sting raises a sleepy eyebrow at them while Rogue groans in realization. “This argument has been going on for two months...you’ll get used to it.”

The three siblings, still squabbling, move past the two boys and down the hall. Sting cranes his neck behind them, wondering why two girls were in a boy’s dorm in the first place, then shrugs it off and follows Rogue’s retreating back into the elevator. They wait in the elevator in awkward silence, Sting looking away from the other boy, not wanting to seem like he’s staring, even though he totally is.

The door slides open after an agonizing two minutes, and Sting leaps out as quickly as he can, not looking back at his crush. Rogue eyes him curiously, unsure of why the other is so jumpy, but simply ignores it as the door slides closed behind them. Together they walk out of the building, Sting glancing around at the cars around them.

A loud car horn sounds, causing them to whip their heads around towards a shiny blue car. “OI!” Natsu calls, cupping his hands around his mouth as he leans out the passenger side window. “GET IN, LOSERS, WE’RE GOING TO THE BASEBALL GAME RIGHT NOW, AND YOU HAVE NO SAY IN IT!”

Sting grumbles sleepily, heading towards the backseat with Rogue right behind him. “Are they always like this?”

“Sadly,” Rogue confirms, sliding into the fairly clean leather seats in the back. Impressed at how clean the interior is, Sting’s eyes nearly pop out of his skull at the sight of Natsu shoving Spicy Nacho Doritos into his mouth, crumbs falling out of his lips.

“NATSU, STOP WITH THE GODDAMN CHIPS!” a dark-haired boy in the driver’s seat yells, snarling at Natsu. “HONESTLY, I HAVE TO CLEAN UP YOUR SHIT EVERYTIME YOU’RE IN HERE!”

“Good,” Natsu mumbles from around a chip. “You’re lazy as fuck, you need things to pass the time.”

Rogue groans, interjecting into the blooming argument. “Guys, c’mon now. I still need to introduce Gray.”

Sadly, he is ignored as Natsu starts pelting chips at Gray’s face, getting red and orange chip dust all over his skin and the chair. Gray is screaming violent threats at the other boy, trying to wring his neck with his bare hands.

Rogue sweatdrops and buckles himself in. “It’s no use,” he sighs dramatically. “Anyways, the overly loud one is Gray...”

“They’re both overly loud,” Sting groans, pinching the bridge of his nose. “But I already know Natsu...sooo...”

“Oh yeah...” Rogue looks away almost shyly, red eyes hesitant. “Sorry if I was a little harsh yesterday...I just get...uh...short when it comes to Natsu. He’s a pervert and relishes in my discomfort.”

Confused, Sting stammers out, “Uh...don’t worry about it?”

Rogue yawns again, sinking back into the seats. “Gray. Natsu. Can we please leave now? We’re going to be late, dumbasses.”

“HIS FAULT!” they screech childishly, pointing at the other in frantic guilt. Sting bangs his face against the window. Would the insanity of this college ever go down a notch?

After about ten more minutes of squabbling, the four young men are finally on the move. The car careens down the road much too fast, Gray slamming his foot to the floor. Natsu blasts ‘American Idiot” as loud as he can, kicking his feet up onto the dashboard.

“Ew! Get your feet off, dumbass!” Gray snaps, jerking violently on the wheel. Sting glances at Rogue, who is leaning forward in between the front seats. He’s trying to speak, but the boys in the front as well as the stereo is much too loud. Rogue groans, collapsing back against the seat.

Sting studies Rogue’s face with concern. His red eyes are glazed behind his glasses, staring blankly at Gray’s headrest. His loose Tartaros t-shirt hangs around his slim frame, halfway down his thighs from slumping in his seat. The dark wash jeans are neatly rolled up at the ankles above black Vans, Rogue’s feet crossed at the ankles. It was the first time Sting had seen him dressed like this: normally the other boy is wearing vests and sweaters. Either that, or completely dressed down in sweats.

“Are you okay?” Sting asks the dark-haired boy, placing a gentle hand on Rogue’s knee.

Rogue nods, closing his eyes. A low hum resonates in the back of his throat as he voices an explanation, “Just tired...and a headache.”

Sting sighs in understanding, removing his hand. “Yeah. I’m exhausted...” He removes his beanie, and runs his fingers through his hair, then crams it back onto his head. “Were you up late?”

“Mhm,” Rogue mumbles, shifting his sitting position again in an attempt to get comfortable. “I had homework due online by 7 this morning and I forgot about it until like 11 last night...procrastination is not your friend...”

Sting clicks his tongue in mock disapproval. Beside him, Rogue tries a third time to get comfortable, pressing his cheek against the cold car window. Sting sucks up all his courage and shakily asks, “H-Hey...you wanna lean on my shoulder? Much more comfortable than any damn window.”

A warm, sleepy smile spreads across Rogue’s lips, murmuring out a quiet, appreciate “Thank you” before resting his head against Sting’s shoulder. Sting’s heart races in his chest, feeling Rogue’s soft hair tickle his tanned cheek.

In front of them, Natsu snickers knowingly. He elbows Gray, grinning like a maniac. “Seeeeeeeee~! I told you so! You owe me 100 bucks!”

“I agreed to 10!” Gray fires back. “And who said they were dating?! AND WHY ARE YOUR FEET STILL ON MY DASHBOARD?!”

“FUCK YOU, THAT’S WHY!” Natsu shouts rebelliously, easily matching Gray’s obnoxious volume.

“Can you both please stop shouting?” Sting protests weakly. “Rogue’s trying to sleep!”

“Yeah, yeah, we get it,” Natsu waves a hand offhandedly. “You wore him out last night.”

Sting’s face turns scarlet. “WE’RE JUST FRIENDS!” he screeches.

“I FUCKIN’ TOLD YOU, DUMBASS!” Gray shouts triumphantly. “MY MONEY STAYS MINE!”

Natsu makes a mad lunge for Gray, trying to strangle him. Sting’s eyes widen in fear and shock as he shrieks, “He’s driving, that can’t be safe!”

“It’s college,” Rogue mumbles sleepily, not hearing much of the conversation. “You get used to near death experiences.”

Sting gulps as the car’s tires screech against the asphalt before heading onto the freeway. By this time, Natsu has finally stopped trying to strangle Gray and simply sits in his seat with his arms crossed in a silent huff. Besides “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” playing over the speakers, the car is silent.

"How much further?" Sting asks softly, trying to break the silence.

"Eh, depending on traffic, I'd say anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes," Gray replies, moving into another lane. Seconds later, he slams on the breaks and the horn simultaneously. "ASSHOLE! WATCH IT!" he shouts at the car that swerved in front of him. They pull into the lane beside Gray, revealing a bunch of odd looking guys and a single girl. They laugh and stick their tongues out tauntingly. Gray flips them off, cussing more under his breath.

"Uh..." Sting says slowly. "Do you know them?"

"Yeah, that's the Oracion Seis," Natsu grumbles. "They're a gang that likes to sneak onto the campus and cause trouble."

"Oracion?" Rogue mumbles sleepily. "Yukino' older sister is in that gang."

Sting's eyes bulge out of his skull. "Yukino?! You mean the sweet girl at the deli?!"

Rogue hums in confirmation. "Mhm. Their parents died a long time ago...they were attacked by a gang as well...ever since Sorano has been forced to take care of them. Sorano dropped out of school, Yukino got a scholarship."

"Yup," Gray says coldly. "But then Sorano...changed. I used to know her fairly well...she went to school with my sister Ultear. And then one day...Oracion invited her in...and she accepted...taking the name Angel..."

Sting's blood runs cold. "Damn..." He looks out the window at the car speeding right above the limit, moving quickly out of sight. "Isn't it weird how people change so fast?"

Gray nods solemnly. "Yeah..."

Once again the car falls silent. "Give Me Novocaine" is now playing, adding onto the weirdly tense mood in the car. Sting sighs, looking down at the sleepy journalist on his shoulder. He rubs Rogue's back soothingly, hoping to lure him back into sleep. Rogue sighs, snuggling into Sting in his sleepy trance. Sting flushes slightly, but doesn't move. He didn't understand how Rogue is so casual about these kinds of things...either that or Sting is overthinking it again. Like always.

Sting is tempted to run his fingers through Rogue's smooth, dark locks, but resists it and instead focuses on playing with the hem of his own shirt. The car ride is silent for pretty much the whole rest of the way there. Sting's eyelids eventually droop and he drifts off to sleep.

Natsu turns around and snaps a picture of them, Sting's head rolled back against the seat and Rogue curled up beside him. He sends it to Gray and a few others, adding, 'lookit these gay nerds'. He smirks to himself, muttering under his breath, "Totally dating..."

"I'm not handing over my money until they kiss," Gray declares, swerving into another lane and cutting off some random guy who honks at him. "FUCK YOU TOO."

Natsu rolls his eyes at the other's road rage, then join in by shooting an obscene gesture when the guy tries to pass them again. "It's gonna happen," Natsu says confidently. "I know it will."

Gray slams his hand on the horn as he shifts into the exit lane. In the backseat, Sting jolts awake. It takes him a moment to figure out where he is, but it registers when he sees Natsu's pink hair. That's right, he's with Rogue's friends.

Speaking of Rogue, somehow the young journalist is still fast asleep. His glasses are slipping off the bridge of his nose, his eyelashes fluttering slightly as he breathes. Sting looks down at Rogue, breath stolen from him at how serene the other looked. Now he gives up all self-control and runs his fingers through the silky dark strands, listening to a content hum escaping the sleeping boy's lips.

"You're adorable," Sting murmurs, praying that no one hears it. But he's held in those words for far too long now. Speaking them brought a weight off of his chest. He smiles, wrapping an arm around Rogue and pulling him closer. "Sleep," he says gently. "You deserve it."

Finally the car pulls into the parking lot. It took lots of honking, cussing, flipping people off, and Natsu throwing a chip out the window at someone to get them a half-decent parking spot.

"Fucking hell," Gray grumbles as he pulls into the spot, "I nearly ran that idiot over."

Natsu shakes his head slowly. "Some people..." he mumbles. 

Gray turns the key in the ignition, turning off the engine. He turns around in his seat to look at the half-asleep duo in the backseat. "Time to go, lovebirds."

"Stop it!" Sting exclaims, blushing furiously. It spreads from his cheeks across the bridge of his nose and the tips of his ears. "We're just friends, I swear!"

"Suuuuure," Natsu smirks.

"Uh huh," Gray replies, unbuckling his seatbelt, "and I'm the King of Taiwan."

"Taiwan doesn't have a King," Rogue points out sleepily, slowly unbuckling his own seatbelt.

"Shut the fuck up." Gray sounds extremely no-nonsense, and Sting can't help but to snort. "I was trying to prove a point, smartass."

"I didn't hear the beginning of it," Rogue steps out of the car, pushing his glasses up on his nose and flattening his messy hair.

"Anyyyyways!" Sting jumps in quickly, heart racing in his chest. "You said something about a giveaway?"

"Mhm," Rogue hums as he crams a red and white baseball cap onto his head. "We just need to grab our things. We can sunscreen and such in line." He turns to look at Sting, a small smile on his face. "I hope you brought money, because you are buying so much merchandise no matter if you like it or not."

He turns around to face Sting, a small smirk on his face. Sting nearly has a heart attack. Holy. Shit. His imagination of Rogue in a hat was nothing compared to real thing. Rogue then frowns, removing the hat, to Sting’s disappointment. “Ah, I should put my hair up, it’s hot today,” he sighs, pulling a black hair tie off of his wrist.

If Sting had found him hot before, then Rogue was literally on fire now. Sting felt heat creeping up his skin as Rogue tightens the ponytail, brushing his bangs to the side to try to see better. Why was the man in front of him _so fucking godlike_?

“Uh...are you okay, Sting?” Rogue asks, pink tinting his cheeks as he slides the baseball cap back onto his head.

“Y-Yeah, totally!” Sting squeaks. “Nothing’s wrong at all!” He laughs nervously, shifting from side to side.

“Let’s go, I’ve got all the shit packed,” Gray interrupts the moment, slamming the car door shut and locking it with the press of a button.

"Cool, let's head out," Natsu crams a hat of his own onto his mass of pink spikes. Sting is still staring blankly at Rogue, stuck in his own head, cheeks painted with pink. Natsu snickers, elbowing Sting on his way past. "Hurry up, Romeo. Or are you Juliet?"

Sting jolts, not a hundred percent sure of what Natsu said, and quickly stammers, "U-Uh yeah, sure!"

Natsu laughs even harder, taking his place by Gray's side, Rogue tailing right behind them. Sting rushes forward to walk beside Rogue, fixing his beanie upon his head. They walk through the parking lot, Gray and Natsu flipping reckless people off every five seconds, and Rogue just chuckles. Sting shakes his head in disbelief because holy hell these people were insane.

The line is extremely long, and Sting couldn't help but to be impatient. He ends up standing in front of Rogue, which annoys the hell out of him, as he wishes nothing more than to see Rogue’s smiling face. He tries to move beside the other boy many times, but Gray and Natsu are walking in just the wrong place. Sting sighs, downcast, as he leans against the metal railing on the side of the walk.

“Sooo bored...” he whines, picking at the hem of his tank top.

“This is why we had to leave so early,” Gray sighs exasperatedly, “but _someone_ took _three fucking years_ fixing his hair.”

“Not sure if you’re talking to me or Natsu,” Rogue admits. “I would say Natsu, but I doubt he even brushes his hair.”

“HEY!” Natsu exclaims, eyes narrowing. He suddenly stops, his shoulders slumping. “But you’re right, I never brush my hair.”

Gray groans in annoyance as Rogue continues flatly with, “It took me like only 15 minutes to do my hair.”

“It _normally_ takes you 15,” Natsu smirks, “but this morning it took you like a half hour, dude. Lemme guess~ You wanted to look pretty for your boyfriend~”

Rogue doesn’t even flinch. No blush, no sign of embarrassment. He simply replies monotonously, “He’s not my boyfriend.”

Sting freezes from where he’d been about to move off the railing, heart shattering in his chest.

“Ouch,” Gray winces. “Blunt, man. Not cool.”

Rogue doesn’t say anything as the line moves up, Gray and Natsu following him. Sting lags behind, reluctantly pushing himself off the railing with both hands. His heart hurt. No reaction from Rogue...nothing. Was all of Sting’s hopes just his imagination? Because from what he just saw, Rogue was _not_ interested.

“Stupid stupid stupid,” he hisses under his breath. “You’re a dumbass, Sting. Of course he doesn’t feel the same. Has anyone you’ve ever liked felt the same?” He blinks away a single tear in the corner of his eye and forces a smile onto his face as he rejoins the others.

They don’t seem to notice anything different about him, as they keep talking and joking around as they walk. Sting lags behind, shuffling his feet. The line moves surprisingly quickly after that, filing through until they reach the gate.

“Sorry, you missed it by a few people, we’re all out at this gate,” the man apologizes.

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!” screeches Natsu, springing forward. “I WANT MY GODDAMN MARD GEER JERSEY YOU FUCKWAD I GOT UP AT LIKE 4AM FOR THIS SHIT ON A SATURDAY AFTER A TEST AND YOU EXPECT ME TO STAND THERE AND TAKE THIS SHIT OH HELL NO I AM NOT FUCKING-”

Gray then grabs the back of Natsu’s shirt, pulling him away from the man. “OUCH, LET GO OF ME, ASSHOLE! FUCK OFF!”

“NO!” Gray shouts back. “You’re embarrassing me in public, you dumbass!” Gray’s cheeks tint pink as he continues, “Why the fuck do I always end up taking care of you?”

“Because you hate me,” Natsu sticks out his tongue in annoyance.

Sting can’t help but to smirk. He sees an opportunity here. “Well, you know what they say, there’s a fine line between love and hate.”

“SHUT UP NEW KID!” they scream together, Gray dropping Natsu so they can both glare at him. Sting doubles over laughing, and he can hear Rogue chuckling beside him as well. That makes the wait in line all the better.

 

“OH COME ON!” Gray roars, banging his hand on the armrest. Someone’s soda spills behind him. The crowd starts booing very loudly.

“HE WAS OUT HE WAS OUT HE WAS OUT!” Natsu screams. “I CALL BIAS!” He leaps out of his seat, shaking his fist dramatically in the air. “I CALL BLACKMAIL! I CALL BRIBERY!”

Sting blinks, turning to look over at Rogue, who is slowly sipping a Dr. Pepper. “Uh...I’m pretty sure he was safe...?”

Rogue shakes his head. “He might’ve been out, but it’s no need for them to flip their shit.” He pauses, frowning as he looks at Sting. He leans forward, tugging slightly on the brim of Sting’s new Tartaros baseball hat. “Sorry, it was crooked.”

Sting blushes pink. “Uh, yeah, thanks.” He shifts nervously before continuing with, “By the way I wanted to thank you for buying me all of this I really-”

“FUCK YOU UMPIRE!” Natsu and Gray scream together, throwing random snacks, some of them hitting people in the head.

“Sorry, what was that?” Rogue calls over the commotion, trying to get Sting’s attention. But Sting was too busy staring wide-eyed at a few people who had turned around and were starting to throw popcorn back at the rowdier duo of his new friend group.

But then, the runner was tagged on the way to third, and the inning ended. Once again Gray and Natsu were screaming, but this time, of approval.

Rogue nudges Sting slightly, “Hey, time to stand up for the 7th inning stretch. They sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame, and trust me, you don’t want to miss my friend’s version.”

Sting stumbles awkwardly to his feet, embarrassed that Rogue manages to smoothly stand up from these stupid chairs.

The second the song starts up, Natsu and Gray start belting.

“TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME

TAKE ME OUT WITH THE CROWD

BUY ME SOME PRICY ASS CRACKJACKS

I GIVE NO FUCKS IF WE EVER GET BACK

FOR IT’S ROOT ROOT ROOT

FOR **_TARTAROS_**

IF THEY DON’T WIN IT’S BS

FOR IT’S

ONE

TWO

THREE

STRIKES YOU’RE FUCKED

AT THE OL’ BALLGAME~!”

Rogue chuckles, turning to Sting, who's laughing so hard he can hardly breathe. Rogue watches him for a moment, enjoying the way the sunlight hits dark blue eyes before saying, "They do this every time."

Sting wipes tears from his eyes, shakily responding, "Wh-Why am I not surprised?" He trips on his way to sitting back down, hitting his back against the red surface. He whines slightly in pain before lowering himself into the seat. Rogue looks at him in concern, then shrugs seeing that Sting seems to look as if he hoped no one noticed.

The next inning chugs by slowly, not much happening but walks a single out and a hit that goes nowhere. Sting is about to get up to go buy himself another hot dog (and hopefully not get lost in the process) when Jackal hits a foul ball straight at Natsu.

“I GOT IT!” Natsu screams, jumping up in an attempt to catch it. However, he bumps right into Gray, who spills his drink, and then, in anger, he grabs Natsu and tugs him away from the ball. “THE FUCK GRAY?!”

Sting’s eyes widen, watching as the ball heads right for his face. His eyes widen, and without thinking, he snatches it out of the air. The people around him cheer, and Sting simply blinks in shock. “W-Whoa?!” he stammers out. “I...I actually...” He stands there, mouth open, gazing at the spherical ball in his hand. He runs a finger over the worn red stitching in amazement.

Rogue smiles almost proudly at him, “Well done, Sting.”

Sting turns to look at him, feeling a little bit overwhelmed. He can see that Rogue looks a little envious, but only slightly. Sting takes one final fond look at the dirtied ball and then sets it in Rogue’s hand. “Here,” he gently curls Rogue’s fingers around the white leather surface, “you can have it.”

Rogue’s eyes widen in surprise, “N-No way,” he stammers, trying to hand it back. “You caught it, it’s yours.”

Sting shakes his head, pushing Rogue’s hand back towards him. “No,” he says calmly, although his heart is racing in his chest. “Obviously this means a lot more to you than it does to me. I don’t care if I caught it...I can tell you want to keep it.”

Rogue looks like he might cry. “J-Jackal’s been playing since I was in middle school,” he admits, “and he’s always been my favorite.” He looks down at the ball, red eyes swimming with emotions. “Thank you...” he whispers, looking straight up into Sting’s blue eyes from behind his glasses. “Thank you, Sting.”

 _Whoa holy shit he looks beautiful._ Sting tries to snap himself out of his thoughts, but instead stammers out, “Uh yeah sure uh anything for beau-uh for...for...” He looks away, blushing furiously until he finally shouts out way too loudly, “YOU’RE WELCOME!”

Rogue laughs slightly, running a finger over the red stitching of the ball. “Thank you...” he whispers again under his breath, barely audible.

“Be right back,” Sting moves past Rogue towards the end of the row.

Sting returns to the seats after getting lost for about ten minutes, collapsing into his red plastic chair. People around him are grumbling in annoyance, and Sting sees that the scoreboard is tied.

"At this rate, we're going into extra innings," Rogue sighs, sipping his Dr. Pepper. "We're probably gonna be driving home in the dark..."

"Oh no," Sting's eyes widen at the thought of the crazier half of the group driving and fighting in the dark. Sting shudders.

Rogue frowns from around his straw. "Are you cold? It's a little breezy out here, I suppose."

Sting shakes his head, his gold hoop earring hitting the side of his neck. He's about to tell Rogue that he's plenty warm when he suddenly thinks of how nice it was cuddling with Rogue. "Uh, a little bit."

Rogue pulls out a red and white jacket and passes it to Sting. Sting pulls it on, breathing in the scent of Rogue on the fabric. It was comforting, to say the least, to feel like Rogue is there with him, embracing him close even though that will most likely never happen.

“WHOA!” someone suddenly screams. Instantly heads turn to look at the field. Rogue is suddenly on his feet, crying out in joy.

“OH MY GOD RUN RUN RUN RUN!” he shouts, eyes wide with surprise and joy. Sting can’t see over everyone who suddenly stood up, so he has no clue what is happening, but he doesn’t care. Instead, he’s just watching Rogue’s face light up with joy and excitement, eyes shining as he cheers on the runner.

Suddenly the stadium erupts. Rogue fist pumps, hands around his mouth as he shouts something Sting doesn’t understand. Not that it matters. Because this is happier than Sting has ever seen Rogue, so full of energy and life, that he wishes the game wouldn’t end.

But supposedly the play had ended the tie, and Tartaros is victorious. Rogue turns to Sting, a huge smile on his face as he exclaims, “They did it!” He laughs, looking at the ball he’d placed in the cupholder when he’d jumped up. He picks it up again, running his fingers over the surface.

“This was one of the best games I’ve been to in a while,” Rogue smiles. “Thank you for coming, Sting. You’re much better company than my brother.”

Sting blushes. “O-Of course...I’d love to go again sometime...” Realizing he just invited himself, Sting quickly tacks on, “U-Uh I mean if you want me too-!”

Rogue’s smile only widens. “I’d love you too.”

“C’mon fuckwads we’re out,” Gray says, “if we don’t leave now we’re going to get stuck in traffic.”

“I’d rather stay and loot people’s forgotten merch, are you kidding?!” Natsu laughs. “There’s gonna be bad traffic anyways.”

“Natsu... ** _no._** ” Rogue and Gray chorus.

 

And so, the four college boys begin the ride home, pleased with the game's outcome. The traffic getting out of the parking lot was heavy, putting Gray in a fairly bad mood. It took them nearly an hour just to exit, and by that time, night had fallen.

Sting buries his face deeper into Rogue's warm jacket, as nightfall had made the air chilly. He is very glad for the warmth it brought: he hadn't been smart enough to bring a sweatshirt or something.

Beside him in the backseat, Rogue shivers, wrapping his arms around himself in an attempt to get warm. "Hey N-Natsu? Can you turn on the heater, p-please?"

Natsu reaches to crank up the heater when Gray snaps annoyedly, "Uh, I'm boiling, and I'm also driving, so it stays where it is."

"Jeez, moody," Natsu grumbles, sinking back into his chair. "What's up with you?"

"Sorry," Gray sighs, "I'm just tired..." He stops at a red stoplight, turning around slightly to look at Rogue. "Hey, where's your jacket, man? Did you leave it there?"

"Sting has it," Rogue says softly, looking over at the blond.

Guilt floods through Sting's veins, "U-Uh, sorry! D-Did you want it ba-"

"Hahaha!" Natsu laughs loudly. "I see! That'd such a romantic thing to do, givin' your jacket to your little boyfriend when-"

"SHUT UP!" Rogue suddenly screams. The entire car falls silent. Rogue's eyes are narrowed in anger, and his hands are clenched into fists.

Gray gapes at him while Natsu looks slightly stung by the abrupt outburst. Sting swallows, a little scared.

"D-Dude," a stunned Gray stammers out. "Wh-What-?"

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Rogue screams again. His breathing is heavy and his body is trembling. "Every damn time I make a new guy friend you joke around about me having a crush on them or some shit and I'm so tired of it! Even if I was romantically interested, I don't need you two constantly interfering! All you do is make me and whoever the other person is uncomfortable! Do you even know how many friends I've lost because of this?! Far too many!"

Still boiling with rage, Rogue spits out, "What if I told you I wasn't looking for a relationship, huh?!"

Sting's eyes widen in shock. _Did he just...?_

"What would you do then?! Would you finally stop harassing me for once?!"

Gray and Natsu stare at Rogue, completely dumbfounded. They say nothing in response, simply slowly turning back around as the light switches to green.

Rogue turns away from everyone and looks out the window, fuming and crossing his arms.

Meanwhile, Sting presses his face to the glass of his own window and cries. He lets the tears fall as silently as possible, watching them create small streaks on the glass. He should've known this was the case, especially with how cut off Rogue had been acting that day. And yet, the words hit him hard.

Because he loved Rogue so much it hurt...and hearing that once again, his heart would be broken, he couldn't handle it.

The rest of the car ride home is in perfect silence expect for the occasional sniff or quiet sob from Sting. When the car pulls into the parking lot, Rogue quickly exits, slamming the door behind him. Sting takes his time, not wanting to face Rogue in the elevator. When he reaches his dorm room, he collapses onto his bed, fully dressed, and breaks down.

It was foolish of him to even try anymore.


	5. Chapter 5: Bikes are the Work of Satan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~! New chapter at last! I had to cut this one off in a weird spot because it was getting wayyYYY too long XD
> 
> But anyways~! Enjoy :D

**** Sting rolls over in bed, sunlight streaming in through the windows, blinding him. He didn’t want to see the “happiness” the rest of the world had to offer right now. It all felt so false, artificial, forced. He wanted nothing more than to hide under the blankets and sleep forever. He felt so shitty, like someone had just crushed his heart in his chest.

_ Oh yeah, that did happen. Fuck. _

However, Sting’s attempted sleep is interrupted as his door is forcefully unlocked, then shoved open. Sting sits up bolt upright in bed, hair sticking out every which way, some strands stuck to his forehead. His blue eyes are wide, as he had been startled by the door opening.

A man with a tall stature looms in the doorway, stepping inside the dorm room. He grunts loudly, pulling a small suitcase after him. Sting rubs his eyes sleepily, blinking a few times to try to take in the man’s appearance. “H-Huh?” he stammers. “Wh-Wha-?”

“Shut up,” the man snaps. “I’m tired as fuck. I don’t care whatever weird stuff you did the night before, I had to leave my room last night so I will not put up with any of your shit.”

Sting blinks slowly before processing. “Whoa whoa whoa. Hold the goddamn phone. First of all, do I know you? Second of all, why did no one tell me I was getting a roommate? Third of all, why did you have to leave?”

“Too many questions, kid,” the man grumbles. “But in response, I don’t like you, I don’t know, and I don’t want to talk about it.”

Sting blinks again. “Waaait. You’re that guy with the spiky headphones from computer class.”

“Laxus,” he grumbles, slamming the door shut. “I’m Laxus.” He throws the suitcase next to the second bed in the room, then collapses back onto the bed fully clothed. “Don’t talk to me. I’m skipping class.”

“Oookay,” Sting says slowly, very grateful he doesn’t have a Sunday class. He rolls over in bed, whining into his pillow.

“SHUT UP!” shout two voices at once, one a little grumble from nearby and other through the wall of the adjacent apartment.

Sting bangs his head against the pillow over and over again in frustration. Why was this day going so terribly wrong?!

He begrudgingly climbs out of bed, rubbing his tired eyes as he moves to his dresser. He strips down out of the clothes from yesterday that he never bothered to change from and pulls on a pink t-shirt that reads “made from 100% real gay”. It was one of those shirts that he always found funny, but today it almost felt like it was mocking him. He feels a pang of longing for Rogue in his chest, and he considers wearing something else for a long moment. But then he sucks it up, removing his own self-doubt as he pulls on a pair of light blue washed jeans and his converse. He crams the beanie onto his head and slips a silver earring with a light blue feather into his ear.

After grabbing his laptop bag and his English notebook, he heads out of the door, ignoring the grumbling man on the other bed. He needed to take a walk around campus to clear his head. He spots Rogue standing in front of the coffee machine in the communal kitchen, refilling an old cup.

And so, Sting bolts off down the hallway at high speed, listening to the thumping sound of his feet. He skips the elevator and goes straight for the stairs, taking two at a time in the rush. He didn’t want to face Rogue, no no no no no, not after everything that happened yesterday, he was worried he’d either get more heartbroken or make a fool of himself.

Panting, he slows to a stop only once he’s outside of the building. His hands grip his knees tightly as he slowly catches his breath. If Rogue is following him... No, he couldn’t be, he hadn’t seen him...had he?

Now feeling paranoid, Sting leaps up from his hunched over position and rushes further onto campus. He doesn’t pay any attention to his surroundings, instead running through the grounds without a second thought.  Not looking where he’s running to, he collides right into someone with a large stack of books. The books, as well as Sting's notebook, scatter everywhere around them. 

"Oh shit! I'm so sorry!" Sting cries out, dropping to his knees to pick up the books.

"It's fine," smiles the blonde girl whom he'd crashed into, bending down as well. She's dressed in a light blue blouse, a black pencil skirt, and a pair of tall black heeled boots, her shiny blonde hair loose and curled at the edges. She grabs Sting's notebook, which had fallen open on the pavement. "Oh! Sting Eucliffe!" she exclaims, looking up at Sting.

Sting jolts slightly. "Um, yeah...how do you know me?"

The girl laughs, exchanging the notebook for her stack of books. She rises to her feet, her heeled boots providing about two inches of height on Sting. Sting stands up as well, still eyeing this girl with newfound curiosity. "I'm Lucy Heartfilia," she extends a friendly hand to Sting. "I'm a friend of Natsu. He's talked about you. Described you as blond, clumsy, and gay. I can definitely see it."

Sting laughs nervously. "Great...I already have a reputation...although I guess being the clumsy gay blond isn't that bad."

Lucy giggles. "No, honestly that's not bad at all. Better than me." She leans closer and whispers, "My first nickname was big boobed snoop."

Sting snorts out loud, unable to help himself. Without thinking, he says aloud, "I wonder what Rogue's was."

"Silent emo homo," Lucy replies without missing a beat.

Sting's mouth falls open. "Y-You actually remember?! And you know Rogue?" Suddenly realizing that if she knew Natsu she had to know Rogue, Sting flushes.

Lucy doesn't seem to have a problem with Sting's rapidfire questions, and simply answers smoothly. "I have a knack for remembering things. And yes, Rogue's a good friend of mine, and he's in Journalism with me." A small smirk slides into her painted pink lips. "By the way...did you know that Rogue simply won't shut up about you? It's the most I've ever heard him talk about anyone...or anything, for that matter."

Sting's cheeks burn. "R-Really?" he splutters. Turning away from Lucy's staring brown eyes, his face falls. "Hah. Bet that'll change now..."

Lucy frowns. "What do you mean?" She places a gentle, kind hand on Sting's shoulder.

Sting swallows back a sob. "He...he hates me!" he cries, voice cracking as he balls his hands into fists.

Lucy shakes her head. "Are you kidding?!" she laughs. "That boy is crazy for you! He's crushing on you hard, Sting, trust me. He will ramble for ages about how funny you are, and how thoughtful you've been to him, and how sweet you are in apologizing for all of your little clumsy actions. I've never seen him this into anyone he'd just met. He really likes you, Sting."

Sting swears his face is darker than a tomato. "A-Ah...I don't think so..."

"Oh, I know so!" Lucy edges Sting on, brown eyes twinkling. "He's crazy for you!"

"Which is why he's angry at me," Sting says sarcastically, heart aching in his chest.

Lucy sighs, her expression going serious. "Sting," she says gently, "I may not know you very well, but I do know Rogue. There's got to be a reason behind it...you just have to ask."

Sting sighs, hanging his head. "Yeah...guess you're right."

"Speak of the devil," Lucy peers over Sting's shoulder. She waves enthusiastically, somehow balancing all six books in one arm. "Hi Rogue!"

"Hello Lucy!" Rogue's voice calls back.

Fear floods through Sting's veins, cold like ice. He shivers nervously before slowly stepping out of Lucy's line of sight, but keeping his back to Rogue. Rogue comes up beside Sting, stopping in front of Lucy. Hesitantly Sting sneaks a peek at him out of the corner of his eye.

Rogue looks a bit tired, but in a weirdly attractive way. His dark hair is slightly rumpled, there are mild dark circles underneath his eyes, and his glasses are slightly crooked. He's dressed in a simple olive green t-shirt and cacky shorts with his black Converse. A dark brown button up shirt is layered over the other shirt, hanging loose on his thin frame. 

A cup of steaming coffee is in one hand and his cellphone is in the other. He slides the phone into his pants pocket, then turns to look at Sting. "There you are, Sting." He smiles warmly. "I've been looking for you. Why'd you take off this morning?"

Sting slowly turns to look at him, face covered with hurt and betrayal. Instantly Rogue's expression shifts from inquiry to guilt and regret. "Lucy," he says, his voice heavy. "Can you leave us for a little bit?"

"Of course," Lucy says gently, rearranging the stack of books in her arms. "See you later, and remember what I told you, Sting!" With that, she turns and runs off, heels clicking against the cement.

The silence between the two teens was thick. Sting was finding it hard not to scream or cry or fall to his knees. He knew he was melodramatic, he always had been since a child. He just couldn’t help it... Besides, there was something about Rogue that took all of Sting’s emotional control and tore it into indecipherable shreds.

Finally, Rogue speaks. “Sting...this is about what I said in the car last night, isn’t it?”

Sting swallows hard. He hesitates before nodding quickly, but still doesn’t look Rogue in the eye.

Rogue sighs loudly, running his fingers through his messy hair. “Look, I...I didn’t mean that I hated you or anything...when I said that...”

Something inside Sting’s snaps. All of the pent up anger, frustration, and sadness explodes inside of him as he screeches, “WELL IT SURE SOUNDED LIKE IT!” Rogue’s sentence dies as his eyes widen in shock. Sting is breathing heavily, shaking from head to toe. His lip trembles as he manages out, “I was almost positive you were just putting up with me because you knew that I’d been bullied in the past and you were taking pity on me!” He can barely speak, choking on contained sobs. “I  _ cried my eyes out _ that night! I got little to no sleep because I was fucking bawling over you!”

Rogue’s eyes glaze over in emotion as he steps closer to Sting, placing his hands on Sting’s shoulders. “Sting...” he whispers, eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “I...I never meant to hurt you that way... I was just...frustrated and tired... Gray and Natsu...they scared away someone whom I really cared about in the past...” Rogue turns away from Sting and takes a long, deep breath. “There was this guy...and he...” Rogue laughs shakily. “He...was wonderful...he was quirky and nerdy and loved books, just like I. He was a theater major...and I loved him very much...but Gray and Natsu teased him about crushing on me...and eventually he said he didn’t want to be friends any longer...and he left. And I never saw him again.”

Sting’s heart is heavy with sympathy. He reaches forward to gently cup Rogue’s face in his hands, pressing his forehead against Rogue’s. “I’m so sorry...” he whispers. “I understand...how it feels...to lose someone you love...I went through that too...but in a much different way...” He sniffs slightly, closing his eyes for a moment to recollect himself. He slowly opens them again, studying Rogue’s face from behind his lashes. “Please...just know that I’m not going  _ anywhere _ .”

A warm smile spreads across Rogue’s lips. “Oh, Sting...” he breathes. “I’m trusting you and I’m going to believe you...” He closes his eyes, comforted by the support of the other student. “Please...keep that promise...”

“Of course I will,” Sting responds. Inside of his head, he completes the sentence,  _ ‘Always and forever.’ _

Rogue pulls away, a guilty expression on his face. “I’m so sorry for all of this pain I’ve put you through...perhaps I buy us lunch again? And maybe a trip to the park is in order?”

“Picnic?!” Sting suggests excitedly.

“Yes, wonderful idea,” Rogue smiles calmly. “Okay, so we’re just going to need to rent some bikes.” Sting gulps as Rogue moves away from Sting, calling him after him. Sting rushes forward, trailing beside the dark haired journalist as they begin to walk off campus. "The rental place is right across the street from the Culinary Arts building, then we can bike down to the conscience store for picnic food."

Sting nods wordlessly as they approach the Culinary Arts building, passing by a few hurried students and a member of the faculty. Once again, Rogue's hand ends up grabbing Sting's to pull him across the crosswalk, as Sting had zoned out watching someone flipping pizza dough in one of the windows.

“Silly,” Rogue chides playfully, “if you keep that up, you’re going to get run over someday.”

“S-Sorry,” Sting stammers bashfully, cheeks flushing pink.

Rogue approaches the bike rentals, scanning the shelves for good bikes. He negotiates something with the man at the counter, then wheels two bikes over to where Sting waits, and passes Sting a white helmet.

Sting swallows nervously, trying to clip the helmet on, but failing. Rogue chuckles and clicks it into place for him. “There.” Rogue attaches his own helmet and then swings onto his bike, actuating the kickstand. Sting stands by the light blue bike with apprehension, as if it was going to bite him.

“C’mon,” Rogue smiles encouragingly. Sting swallows and then swings up onto the bike like Rogue did. He can hear the other laughing as he struggles to push the kickstand up. Finally, he was set.

Rogue pushes forward, pedaling at an easy pace. Sting struggles to catch up, finding that Rogue’s definition of ‘easy’ was still very difficult. His eyes widen, and before he knows what is happening, he crashes right into a pole.

Rogue instantly screeches to a halt, eyes widening behind his glasses. Sting is lying on the ground, laughing and clutching his ribs. “God, am I bad at this,” he wheezes. “I’m such a fucking clutz.”

Rogue bends down next to him with concern. “Are you alright, Sting?”

Sting blinked. It was so... _ weird _ still to have someone care for him when hurt like this. “My knee,” he admits, shifting so Rogue could see the scrape. “Other than that...I’m fine.”

“Ow,” Rogue winces. “Hold on,” he reaches into his pocket, “I think I just may have something.” He brandishes a few multicolored bandages, smiling as he bends down to fix the bleeding scrape. He spits on his finger, then uses it to wipe away the blood. He layers three bandages over the large scrape, one pink, one blue, and one purple. He smiles, looking up at Sting with tender eyes. “That should stop the bleeding.”

Without thinking, Sting blurts out, “C-Can you kiss it better?” Rogue’s jaw drops, and Sting’s entire face turns crimson at the realization of what he’d just said. “Ah-Ah n-no not like that-! My d-dad used to do that f-for me s-so-. Urgh, forget it!”

To Sting’s shock, Rogue leans down and quickly presses his lips to the pink Band-Aid, then pulls back. His face is still completely neutral, and somehow he just grabs Sting’s hand and pulls him up without a problem. “Are you okay to keep going?”

Sting is too stunned to speak. “U-Uh y-yes n-no u-uh-!”

“I’m going to take that as a yes,” Rogue replies, walking back over to his bike. He mounts again, then patiently waits for Sting to finally put his bike back upright.

Sting grits his teeth together in determination. He has to do this...he has to show Rogue that he’s not as much of a klutz as he seems. He pedals forward for a good ten minutes, very proud of his achievement. He makes it all the way to the store without falling off. There they order very similar sandwiches to what they got before as well as some chips and drinks.

Rogue puts them all in his bag and kicks off again, leaving Sting to try to match his now quicker pace. Sting tries his best, working up quite a sweat, only to somehow flip his bike over on a rut in the road. Once again Rogue is screeching to a stop before rushing to Sting’s side, checking him for injury. This time, to Rogue’s relief, it’s only a few little white scrapes that haven’t even broken the skin.

“Are you going to be okay to try again?” Rogue is genuinely concerned.

Nervous laughter escapes Sting’s lips. “Of course!”

Rogue sighs, shaking his head slightly. “Don’t just do this for my sake. Are you actually in pain, Sting?”

“A little bit,” Sting pouts, sticking out his bottom lip. Rogue opens his mouth to speak when Sting cuts in, “But trust me, Rogue, I’ve been through a helluva lot worse, dontcha worry!”

Rogue’s expression shifts. Sting swallows, realizing that Rogue is suspicious. “What kind of worse?” His voice is hitched in his throat, and his words are very soft.

_ He knows he knows he knows- _ Sting’s breathing is off, too nervous to breathe normally. “I...I’ll tell you later...I promise. Maybe even later today...I just..I can’t…”

Beautiful ruby red eyes study Sting’s expression before they are shielded by thick dark lashes. He nods silently before grabbing Sting’s hand once more to help him up from the ground. “Okay,” the sound that escapes his throat is barely a whisper. “Okay.”

Sting sighs, wondering what could possibly have happened to Rogue in the past to make him react like this. He pushes the questions back and lets Rogue help him back onto the bike, comforted by Rogue’s warm, strong hands. He’s sure his cheeks are dusted with pink, but he doesn’t really mind if Rogue sees. He’s given up, in a way, of hiding his feelings. ROgue already has suspicions, and Sting knows it. So, he might as well play it up a bit, right? After all, if he was going be in Rogue’s heart in a romantic light, he was going to have to work for it.

They pedal off again through the cobbled streets filled with only teachers, students, and staff of the university, and Sting has to avoid running over quite a few people many, many times. Thankfully Rogue is great at predicting his catastrophes, because he always seems to ring his bike’s little bell at just the right times.

Finally, they reach the park together and dismount the bikes. Rogue locks them up to a bike rack, then stretches his arms up towards the sky. “Been awhile since I’ve taken a ride. That was wonderful.” He turns to look at Sting with a small smile. “Besides your injury, of course.”

Sting laughs shyly, rubbing the back of his neck. “W-Well, I guess I live up to my reputation.”

“Of being clumsy?” Rogue chuckles. He removes his helmet and slips it under his arm. “I think it’s more that you have bad luck.”

Sting blushes even darker.  _ ‘Meeting you was literally a miracle...I don’t see that as bad luck.’ _ He zones out into his own little dreamworld as he studies Rogue’s face, seeing himself reflected in those beautiful red eyes. Seeing that his face is bright pink, Sting instantly whirls away and struggles to remove his helmet.

Rogue comes up behind him, still chuckling as he reaches over Sting’s shoulders to unclip it. “No need to be embarrassed about such a thing,” he says softly. “It’s perfectly okay.”

“My hair's a mess,” Sting grumbles, trying to fix the sprawl of blond spikes.

“So’s mine,” Rogue takes the helmet from Sting and carries it to clip to the lock. “Besides,” Rogue turns around with a warm smile, “you still look good, because your personality shines through.”

Sting turns bright red. “U-Uh y-yeah whatever y-you say!”

Rogue laughs at Sting’s embarrassment, a sly smile on his face. Sting could feel the tips of his ears burning. Oh god, was Rogue actually  _ flirting?  _ That’s it. The world is ending. It’s the apocalypse or something because there’s no fucking way he would do this normally.

Or maybe Sting’s misinterpreting it again.

When Rogue turns around, his hair moves around his face and Sting’s heart jumps into his throat. He stands there, completely dumbstruck and not thinking.  _ Thank you world for messy ponytails bless you because HOLYLYLOY- _

“Are you...okay?” Rogue looks ready to crack up at Sting’s sudden mental screaming; he can see it written all over his face.

Sting nods vigorously. “Uh-HUH! TOTALLY. JUST FINE. NOTHING’S WRONG.”  _ Nope, everything is right with the world you can keep looking at me like that I wouldn’t mind at all. _

Rogue approaches him, still smiling smugly. “Alright, if you say so, dork.” He reaches out a hand towards Sting, and Sting holds back a squeal and quickly takes it.

Rogue leads him into the park towards the nearest tree, humming something under his breath. The moment is so wonderfully serene that Sting is convinced he’s dreaming.

Rogue lets go of Sting’s hand, which is both a relief and extremely saddening. Sting is happy he doesn’t have to worry about sweat anymore, but at the same time he’s disappointed. Rogue’s hand is so warm and soft, yet he has a strong grip, as if he’s holding on and never going to let go.

It was extremely comforting. Even if once again Sting was taking Rogue's actions in the wrong way, it filled him with warmth and love. He wanted nothing more than to kiss Rogue’s lips that would probably be feather light on his own, soft and warm. Sting shakes his head, trying to clear these thoughts. How has he fallen in love so easily?

He couldn't be foolish, not again, not after what happened in High School. And yet, he’s head over heels.

Rogue shakes out the picnic blanket then sets it down on the green grass under the oak tree. He sits down, then pats the place beside him. Sting literally falls onto the blanket, lying flat on his back, his converse still on the grass. Rogue laughs and brushes a piece of hair out of Sting’s eyes, and Sting blushes scarlet. “It’s odd seeing you without a beanie,” Rogue chuckles. “Not a  _ bad _ odd, just different.”

Sting juts out his lip in a pout. “I could put it back on, I just took it off to ride.”

Rogue shakes his head. “No no, I like your hair.” He smiles gently, and Sting makes a strangled noise in the back of his throat.

Rogue pulls off the backpack and removes their sandwiches and chips, as well as Sting’s Arizona and Rogue’s iced coffee. He opens the Arizona for Sting, then passes him the sandwich. He pulls open the massive bag of BBQ Lays for them both, popping one into his mouth before unwrapping his own sandwich.

Sting steals a few chips and puts them into his sandwich, then takes a massive bite. He coughs slightly, trying to hide the fact he was slightly choking on his food. Despite his efforts, Rogue looks at him in concern over the lip of his drink. Sting holds up a hand to signal Rogue to wait. After a moment of shaky breathing he manages a, “ ‘m okay.”

“Good,” Rogue screws the lid back on his coffee. “I was getting a little worried there, your face was slightly red.”

_ ‘That's completely different,’  _ Sting thinks to himself, stopping himself from speaking aloud by shoving chips into his mouth. As he chews, he notices that Rogue is looking extremely solemn all of a sudden. His eyes are on a small white flower in the grass, springing up between the green blades.

Sting sits up abruptly, causing Rogue to look at him in confusion. “Sting, are you-?” But before he can finish, his words die in his throat, eyes following Sting’s fingers as they close around the blossom. 

Sting rips the stem off, then reaches forward and slides it behind Rogue’s ear. He grins brightly, eyes closing. “There! You looked kinda sad looking at it, so I thought maybe you’d be happier with it instead!”

Rogue’s eyes widen, and Sting is shocked to see light shine in tears brimming at the corners. “Th-Thank you…” he whispers, shaking slightly. 

Sting can’t bear to see Rogue sad, so he pulls him into a tight hug, letting Rogue rest his head on Sting’s shoulder. Rogue cries for a moment in Sting’s arms, clenching onto Sting’s shirt for dear life. “Shhh...it’s okay...I’ve got you…” Sting whispers in Rogue’s ear, rubbing his hand on Rogue’s back in an attempt to comfort him. He would be screaming inside from the close contact if it weren’t for the fact that Rogue is bawling into his shirt.

Rogue finally leans back. “S-Sorry,” he sniffles as he removes his glasses and wipes his streaming eyes. “It’s just…” He hesitates, looking Sting right in the eyes. Suddenly he averts his gaze, dropping his head. “Nevermind.”

Heart pounding, Sting reaches forward and places a comforting hand on Rogue’s shoulder. “Whatever it is, I won’t judge, you know. I’ll just listen. And maybe more hugs.”

Rogue swallows hard, placing his glasses back on his nose. “O-Okay...I’ll tell you. But only if you tell me what you were talking about earlier.”

Sting looks Rogue straight in the eyes. “Deal.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Backstories and Flashbacks next chapter fufu :D
> 
> Thanks for all of the comments/kudos :D


	6. Chapter 6: #Our Backstories are Shitty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter somehow got really dark, I apologize. I never meant to make Rogue’s past as bad as I did but it just kinda...happened. Oops? Honestly I really need professional help, since everything seems to turn to angst eventually X”D
> 
> I suppose this could work for Stingue Weekend Day 1: Flowers. Let's just say that, shall we? X'D
> 
> So grab your tissues and enjoy some character development! <3

****As Sting agrees to Rogue’s terms, his voice is confident, despite the fact that he really doesn’t want to share his past in such a way, not right now, at least, not when Rogue was already in tears and Sting was supposed to be the strong one.

“I’m not going to go into detail yet…” Rogue says weakly. “But...these flowers. These flowers were...my mother’s favorite. And they...they had them everywhere...at her funeral...they’re planted on her grave…” His lip trembles. “M-My mother cared for me s-so much…”

Sting’s eyes widen. “Y-Your mother died too?”

Rogue freezes. “Wait...you…?”

Sting nods slowly, holding back tears. “Yes...my mother passed away quite some time ago. I was only 4 years old...I barely knew her. But from what I remember, she was very kind.”

Rogue takes a shaky breath, looking down at his lap, clasping his hands together in his lap. “W-Well...my mother…was actually…” He gulps, eyes looking away. “Ah. Nevermind…”

Sting grasps Rogue’s cheeks, eyes filling with tears. “Your mother...what?”

Rogue bites down on his lip, fresh tears streaming down his face. His voice is shaking with obvious fear. Sting saw so, so much hesitation in his eyes. But at the same time...it looked like Rogue has been bottling this up for far too long, like a pot on the stove about to boil over in an explosion of burning hot, white foam. When he finally speaks, his voice is shaky and weak, yet filled with some sort of strange emptiness. “My mother...was murdered by my uncle.”

Sting’s jaw drops. He can’t speak, his mouth hanging open. To his shock, Rogue keeps talking. “I...I was 16. It was the year before I went to college…” He is sobbing so hard that his words are barely decipherable. “H-He was drugged and h-he was angry, s-so he...he...he attacked her w-with a knife...b-because he asked for drug money and she refused…”

Sting is shaking from head to toe. “W-Were you...th-there?” He asks frantically, hoping with everything in his heart the answer was no.

Rogue’s voice is barely a whisper. _“Yes._ ”

Instantly Sting grabs Rogue by the front of his shirt, tears boiling hot in his eyes. “YOU WERE THERE?” he screams. “YOU SAW HIM DO SUCH AN AWFUL THING?”

Sting’s head is screaming. How the hell could someone _do_ something as awful as that, especially in front of the woman’s son and his own nephew! What type of awful person is (or was?) Rogue’s uncle?!

Rogue can’t even speak, sobbing so hard he can hardly breathe. “H-He-!” Unable to stay upright, Rogue falls forward into Sting’s chest, clutching onto his shirt again and sobbing into the fabric, letting out loud gasps as he tries to draw breath. His entire body shakes violently as he drowns in his own tears.

Sting simply holds him, trying to stop his own tears, but to no avail. He couldn’t believe something as terrible as this could have happened to someone as confident and strong as Rogue. “Your mother sounds very brave…” he whispers, “for standing up to your obviously problematic uncle...I know that isn’t much reassurance...but she must be very proud of you, because you’re also hella brave. I’m a nervous wreck, you know. I get anxiety just talking to you sometimes, and you’re smooth as fuck.”

Rogue sniffles, lifting his head to look Sting in the eyes. His entire expression is flooded with confusion. “You’re scared to t-talk to me…? Wh-Why?”

Sting shifts nervously. He couldn’t let him know the truth...and yet, a different sort of secret slipped from his lips. “B-Because I was so hated at my old school...I get really bad anxiety. Not only that...y-you’re...different...and I don’t mean that in a bad way...you just act s-so confident and put together and you know your stuff and I’m a clumsy awkward mess.”

Rogue shakes his head. He looks so broken, so lost, so lonely. “As you can see, I’m a mess right now.”

Sting presses his forehead against Rogue’s, heart pounding. “Everyone is a mess sometimes. It’s natural, it just means you’re human.” He runs his fingers through Rogue’s messy ponytail, trying to calm him down. “Even crying, you still look better than I.”

“Looks don’t mean a thing,” Rogue whispers.

Sting nods slowly. “In some cases, yes. But for you...it’s your eyes...your eyes speak volumes...so many untold stories that someday I want to hear...it’s that look in the ruby red...that look of _someday, I will be set free_. Even if that day isn’t today...it will come, and maybe not even with me.”

Rogue takes a deep, shivering breath. Sting reaches up, taking ROgue’s glasses in his hand. He reaches up with his thumb and wipes the tears away with tender care, then gently places the glasses back on the bridge of Rogue’s scarred nose. “There,” he whispers, wanting to kiss Rogue’s forehead, but not daring to. “Better?”

Rogue smiles weakly, eyes closing. “Y-Yeah...g-god...you’re a miracle worker, Sting...your smile...is like sunlight.”

Sting nearly faints. “AH. UH. UM. NOT REALLY BUT UH THANKS.” He fails his arms slightly, then hides his blushing face behind his hands. How could Rogue embarrass him so easily?

Rogue laughs lightly, reaching forward to take Sting’s hands away from his face. “Don’t say that. You’re adorable.”

Sting falls backwards onto the blanket again, his hands dropping from Rogue’s. “STOPPPP.”

“No,” Rogue shakes his head with an amused smile on his face. He gently brushes Sting’s hair from his eyes again, looking down at him with now dry eyes. “Did you want to tell me what you were talking about now?”

Sting freezes, the mood broken. His heart drops, then rises into his throat. “I did promise...didn’t I?” He takes a deep breath, eyes closing.

“It was my Junior year of High School…”

_Sting’s heart was racing in his chest. He had a red card clutched in his sweaty palms, which he kept wiping furiously on his dark wash blue jeans. His white and black plaid shirt was clean and crisp, and his hair was brushed back. He had to admit, he looked pretty good. He was feeling that way too: all dressed up nice for this special day._

_It was February 14th...Valentine’s Day. It was a big deal at Sting’s High School; people were constantly giving roses and letters and stuffed bears._

_But Sting had never gotten one or given one. In middle school, (well, 8th grade), Sting had gotten 50 or so Valentines from various girls. But when his secret of being gay came out in November of his Freshman year, Sting Eucliffe was hated._

_But this man...he was gorgeous, and he seemed like someone like that if he were to turn someone down, he’d do it graciously. So although Sting was nervous, he just knew it wouldn’t be too bad._

_Sting steps into the hall of P.E. lockers, sucking in a deep breath. He should probably ask Ren to come outside with him to talk, as lingering in here did not do well for his reputation._

_Sting approaches Ren, who is standing with his friends. One of them was shirtless, but Sting’s eyes were only on Ren._

_“Hey, look there, it’s that blond faggot,” snickers one of the friends. The one without a shirt walks away, a silent statement of ‘don’t check me out you’re disgusting’. The others start whispering, and Sting can easily pick out more homophobic language. He feels a lump rising in his throat._

_“H-Hey, Ren…” he stammers. “D-Do you think we c-can go...uh…” He twiddles his thumbs nervously. shifting his weight from his left foot to his right. “o-outside...maybe?”_

_Ren raises his eyebrows as his friends roar with laughter. “What, too distracted by all the naked men in here?” someone snickers._

_“Are you having difficulty keepin’ your pants on?” another comments._

_Sting stands and takes the verbal abuse, biting down on his lip with suppressed emotion. “No, I just want to talk to Ren.”_

_Ren lets out a long, low sigh. “Oh, Sting… Let me guess, you’ve got a Valentine for me.”_

_Sting blushes pink and nods vigorously. His deep blue eyes widen as Ren steps closer to him, eyes narrowing as a smirk spreads across his lips.  “You poor, poor thing,” he mocks with false pity, “you think you know me, but you really don’t.” He takes the card from Sting’s trembling, sweaty hands and holds it between his own._

_A strangled sound escapes Sting’s throat as Ren tears the card into pieces right in front of Sting’s eyes. “H-Hey!” Sting cries, tears starting to form. “I sp-spent five hours making that… A-At least read it!”_

_Sting chokes as Ren slams Sting’s back against the locker. The entire locker room is jeering or laughing at Sting’s misfortune. Sting smells gas as his eyes dart to the side where one of the boys is holding a lighter. Ren keeps Sting pinned against the locker with his left hand, taking the lighter in his right. His fingers curl around the metal surface, fire dancing at the end. The flame catches to the red paper scraps, igniting it in a rush of heat. Ren’s dark eyes glint from the flickering fire as the paper slowly goes up in flames, soot falling to the floor as tears cover Sting’s cheeks._

_“You are disgusting,” Ren says slowly and carefully, enunciating every word as more blackened ash falls to the floor. Ren’s hand tightens around Sting’s plaid shirt. “Gay trash,” he spits in Sting’s face. “I felt impure just from you_ **_considering_ ** _giving me a Valentine to me! Ugh, I can’t believe I_ _touched_ _that letter, it had to be_ burned _. I hope I don’t get AIDS.”_

_Everyone present is laughing and chanting and yelling, someone of them encouraging Ren, some of them cussing out Sting. The blond closes his eyes, feeling the lock dig into his back. He was going to be covered in bruises again… If only he could disappear…_

_The school bell ringing is music to Sting’s ears, signaling the passing period to his next class. The bullying is stopping again for today._

_Or so he thought._

_The chanting ends as the students disappear out into the hallways, but Ren and his friends remain. The next few minutes are a blur of red and gray as he is knocked to the floor, beat down by cruel fists, taunted by mocking laughter. He keeps his mouth shut, holding back blood that pools behind his teeth, simply taking blow after blow without protest. He is used to his torture by now, after all._

_“That’ll teach you a lesson on respect, you motherfucking piece of shit,” Ren spits, kicking Sting one last time. “Let’s go,” he gestures to his friends. “We have more important places to be than wasting time with this faggot.”_

_The second the door slams shut, Sting coughs up blood onto the floor. He wipes it up with his pristine sleeve, then mechanically gets to his feet._

_He staggers to class, holding toilet paper to his bleeding nose as he shoves the door open. Tardy again. The teacher hands him the slip, and the words blur before Sting’s eyes. No one says a word about the beating. No one can tell, save the nose._

_It’s Valentine’s Day, and Sting Eucliffe is broken, and no one knows, or cares. It was the same damn routine day after day...today was no different._

_Constant bullying and homophobia, unnecessarily brutality and complete ignorance to his struggles… It had become a constant rhythm for him._

_Sometimes...he just wanted to be forgotten._

Rogue stares at Sting, eyes widened, mouth opened into an o. “I-I mean...my last school was homophobic...but no one there ever beat me up. That sounds terrible…” He clenches his hand into a fist on the blanket. “I can’t believe that guy would do something as shitty as that… Burning the letter in front of your eyes?” He lets out a long sigh. “That’s really....cruel.”

“No shit,” Sting mumbles, picking another flower and turning it over between two fingers, holding it above his face. After all of these years, his heart is still aching. He didn’t have feelings for Ren anymore, but he definitely had left a scar on Sting’s heart. “He was an ass.”

Rogue sighs again, shaking his head in disbelief. “You definitely deserve someone better.”

 _‘Like you...although to be honest...You’re probably out of my league…’_ Sting averts his eyes, still looking at the pure white petals that now cast shadows on his face. Rogue sees a distant look on Sting’s face as he twirls the flower slowly between his fingers. Sting can feel Rogue’s eyes studying him intently, but he says nothing. In this moment, his heart is heavy from past memories that he has no energy to be embarrassed.

Rogue lets out a long sigh, suddenly rising to his feet. “Let’s head back.” His voice is quiet, yet heavy. “I...I’m sorry...but I suddenly don’t really feel in the mood to do this.”

Sting leaps up, blue eyes widening. He reaches for Rogue’s wrist, catching it easily in his hand. “R-Rogue, I’m sorry, I d-didn’t mean to m-make you upset-”

Rogue’s chin drops down, nearly touching his chest. “It’s not your fault,” he whispers. “Not at all...I just...need some space for a bit…” He pulls his hand out of Sting’s grip and starts to walk away towards the bikes. The flower falls to the ground in the grass, and Sting falls to his knees before it, picking up the little white blossom. His heart starts to pound, and he realizes that if this had been just a few days ago, he would’ve stood there helplessly and cried. But for some reason, he heard Lucy’s voice in his head, reminding him that Rogue did feel _something_ for him.

He takes off across the grass, running straight towards Rogue, tackling him so that he hugs him tightly around the midsection from behind. Rogue jolts in surprise, head turning to look at Sting behind him. Sting buried his face into Rogue’s back, breathing in deeply.

A single tear brims the corner of his eye as he whispers, “B-But….” He didn’t know what to say, because he certainly can’t admit that he just wants Rogue to stay because he was in love with him and every second mattered. He finally swallows, and thinks up of the dumbest excuse in the world. “B-But I can’t...I can’t ride back by m-myself...I’m sc-cared I’ll f-fall again…”

Rogue’s expression softens. “Oh, Sting…” he says softly. He faces forward again, breathing in deeply. “I’m so sorry…” His voice is barely audible. “I’ve shown you a side of me today I don’t normally share, and I know it’s not pretty...I’m sorry I ruined today with letting it show.”

Sting pulls away, shaking his head quickly. “No!” Rogue jolts again, eyes widening even more. “I-I mean, d-don’t say sorry for showing weakness! B-Being sad isn’t something t-to be ashamed of!”

A single tear sparkles in the corner of Rogue’s uncovered eye as he whispers, “It’s hard to remember that, sometimes...but thank you...thank you so, so much, Sting…”

He smiles sadly, extending a hand again. Sting’s heart skips a beat. “Come on. We’ll go back together, and then I’ll go to my dorm for a bit by myself, and then maybe you can come over later?”

Sting smiles back at him, giggling as his eyes close for a moment. “Sure! I understand if you need your time, eheh.”

Rogue ruffles Sting’s hair, then moves to put on his helmet. Sting slides on his as well, then mounts his bike near Rogue. The ride back is in perfect silence, neither boy having the courage to speak. By the time they pull up to the rental place, Sting is ready for there to be some conversation.

“How’d I do?” he asks as they return the bikes and helmets.

Rogue smiles warmly. “Really well, considering you fell only once this time.”

Sting wants to kiss Rogue on the cheek so badly as a thank you, but his confidence is at zero, or at least very low. He quickly gives Rogue a hug before pulling away with a huge blush on his cheeks. “Th-Thank you… S-Seeya later!”

He rushes off down the street, but goes the wrong direction in his hurry to remove himself from the embarrassing situation. _I can't believe this, I fucked up sooo bad, now he has to know I like him...gaaaaAAH THIS IS SO EMBARRASSING!_ He screeches to a halt next to a darkened alleyway, catching his breath. Looking down the alley, a shiver creeps up his spine.

The walls are all tagged with graffiti sprayed on by dripping paint in fading colors. Trash and cigarette butts littered the ground. A rusted knife, handle slightly bent, lies near a Coke can. What looks like a used condom is tossed off to the side by an empty bubblegum box, which is disgusting, but Sting can’t help but to mentally applaud the couple smart enough to be safe in their moment of weird exhibitionism. A small cat is curled up asleep underneath one of the dumpsters, and Sting is tempted to pick it up and take it home.

In fact, he has to admit he misses his old cat, Lector. But Lector is staying home with his dad, because damn, did that cat _hate_ traveling anyways. If Sting had put him in a plane...he would’ve had his eyes clawed out. Sting kneels down, reaching for the small kitten with both hands. “C’mere, little guy,” he coos. “I’ll give you food.” The kitten opens one eye, looking at Sting skeptically. “Here, kitty, kitty…” Sting whispers with hope in his eyes.

Slowly the small cat crawls towards him. Its fur has somehow been turned green, possibly from spraypaint, or maybe something else entirely. Sting scoops up the little kitten into his arms, holding it close to his chest. The kitten mewls, sounding frail and weak. “Shhh, shhh it’s okay little baby…” Sting pets the kitten’s small, soft head. “I’ve got you, alright? I’m going to take you back and get you some food.”

His sweet moment with his newfound companion is interrupted by a low chuckle. “Lookit this kid.”

Sting jerks his head up in shock. He holds the cat close to his chest protectively, looking for the source of the voice. Purple pink eyes that seem to glow glare towards him through the dim lighting of the alleyway as suddenly a familiar group of teenagers emerge. _The gang from the car ride._

Sting panics. Backing away and still holding onto the kitten for dear life, he stammers out, “Uhmm...I-I’ll just be going now…!” Sting dashes away, heart pounding in his chest. He runs as fast as he can, lungs burning in his chest, never letting go of the small cat. He swears he can hear someone laughing in his ears, and he speeds up faster, feet hitting the pavement hard.

Once again not looking where he is going, Sting hurls himself headlong towards the first thing he saw, and collided straight into olive green fabric. It smelled of lavender detergent, bitter apples, and pine wood. It is warm and comforting, and Sting wants nothing more to sink into the strangely familiar smell.

“St-Sting?” Rogue stammers, looking down at the top of Sting’s head. “Are you alright?”

Sting leaps back, eyes wide, body shaking. “S-Sorry I just...heard something...and went the wrong way.” He wants nothing more than to bury his nose into the olive green again, let that smell of peace and warmth and security fill his nose all over again.

Rogue doesn’t ask any questions, just pulls him close again and runs his fingers through his hair. Sting sighs softly, trying not to cry as he clings to Rogue with his free hand. “Shhh...it’s gonna be okay…”

“Y-Yeah...I’m alright now…” Sting sniffs, leaning back and wiping a single tear from his eye. Rogue frowns, seeing the way Sting is holding his arm. Sting notices and smiles shakily. “O-Oh yeah, look what I managed to get!” He holds out the kitten, who mewls softly.

Rogue’s entire face softens. “Awwww look how cute you are!” he squeaks in an uncharacteristically cutesy voice, and it makes Sting blush. _Holy fuck okay you’re adorable._ Rogue pets the tiny kitten with a single finger, and it licks him. Rogue laughs, and Sting swears on his knowledge of Star Wars trivia that it’s the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard. “You’re so tiny...and your fur’s all green...oh you poor little starving thing…”

Sting rubs the back of his neck awkwardly as Rogue takes the kitten from him and nuzzles his cheek against it. “I was hoping I could keep it in my room with me and nurse it back up to health...y-you wanna help?”

Rogue’s eyes widen. “But Sting, it’s against dorm policy to have pets! Unless it’s a goldfish. Fish don’t count. They just sit there.”

Sting holds back a laugh and replies with, “Well, they don’t ever have to know! This little guy is so small he’ll be safe hiding in my room! I’ll make sure he never gets out or causes a mess and you can help me take care of him!”

“We’re going to have to give him away eventually,” Rogue says softly, and the kitten licks his cheek. Rogue _giggles,_ actually _giggles_ , and Sting nearly has heart failure right then and there. He pauses for a moment, looking at the adorable furball in his hands. “Alright, _maybe_ we can find a way around it. But if he’s caught...he’s your responsibility, alright?”

Sting laughs cheerfully. “In full.” He takes the kitten back from Rogue, listening to it purr. For a moment awkward silence sits between them. Realization that, _wait, he is supposed to be letting Rogue go back to his dorm alone_ hits him like a brick, and Sting quickly stammers. “U-Uh, did you want to go back t-to-”

To his shock, Rogue shakes his head, smiling softly. “We need to work out how we’re going to take care of this little one, aren’t we?” The kitten mewls in response, then snuggles closer to Sting’s chest. Rogue laughs. “C’mon. Let’s go crash at my dorm room. I’ll have my brother get us some Taco Bell if he’s still out.”

Sting smiles and blushes shyly, trying to contain his excitement. “O-Okay...I’d love to.” Rogue smiles back, and Sting’s heart leaps in his throat, and all he could think is, _holy fuck, I am so in love._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading~ Sorry it took me so long to update...again. Rip.
> 
> If you could leave a comment, that would make my day. What other secrets does Rogue have? How to you think they'll keep the kitten secret? How much of an asshole am I? Tell me below~! <3


	7. We're Here and We're Queer...Except Gajeel

****Rogue pushes open the door to his dorm room, humming softly under his breath. Sting eagerly trails behind him, still holding onto the cat who they’d decided to name Frosch. He slips inside after Rogue, although they soon find they’re not alone. Gajeel is sitting on his bed eating a taco with Levy leaning against him, reading a book. Gajeel speaks through a mouthful of food, “Hey look, Shrimp, my bro brought his boyfriend.”

Sting’s cheeks flame red and Rogue sighs angrily. “For the last damn time Gajeel, can’t I bring friends over without you calling them my boyfriend?”

Gajeel imitates in a high pitched voice, “Sting understands me better than anyone I’ve ever met and I-”

“SHUT UP!” Rogue roars, grabbing a pillow from his own bed and throwing it at him. Gajeel drops the taco onto his lap, spilling meat and lettuce all over his tight leather pants.

“FUCK YOU ROGUE!” Gajeel shouts back. “THESE ARE _NEW PANTS_!”

Sting looks helplessly over at Levy, who shrugs and returns to reading. Sting turns his head to gaze at Rogue, who has his arms folded across his chest, cheeks bright red, expression fuming. “I’ve told you a million fucking times not to tease me, I think that was perfectly justified!”

Gajeel snorts. “But you’re so easy to tease! It’s way too fun.”

“You’re an asshole,” Rogue mumbles, collapsing onto his own bed, reaching down to take off his shoes. Sting still stands there awkwardly in doorway, watching it all play out.

“An asshole who brought you Taco Bell,” Gajeel points out, picking the remainder of the lettuce from his pants. “You’re fucking welcome for being your errand boy, by the way.”

Rogue sighs exasperatedly. “Thank you, Gajeel.” He walks over to the bag and pulls out his burrito, unwrapping it and starting to eat it on the bed. He notices Sting still standing in the doorway and pats the bed beside him. “It’s okay, you can come in. Just my brother.”

Sting laughs nervously. “S-So, you’re Gajeel…?”

Gajeel raises an eyebrow. “No shit, it’s not like Rogue’s said my name fifty times or something.” Levy smacks his arm. “Ouch, what the hell, woman?!”

“Be nice!” Levy scolds. “You don’t have to always be so rude, do you?” Gajeel simply grumbles in response. “That’s what I thought.”

“A-Anyways, I’m Sting,” Sting stammers, waving slightly. “I’m a n-new Freshman and a friend of Rogue’s.”

“Nice to meet cha,” Gajeel grumbles, biting into his taco again.

“Good to see you again, Sting!” Levy smiles cheerily. “Lu-chan told me she ran into you earlier today, said you were kinda upset? Are you feeling better?”

Sting flushes, and Rogue looks down at his burrito guiltily. “Y-Yeah, I’m fine now. Misunderstanding.” He walks towards the bag and starts eating some cinnamon twists. “Do you guys have cat food?”

“What the fuck?!” Gajeel nearly chokes. “That’s gross, man!” He looks pointedly at Rogue. “You have a weird taste in men.”

“NO!” Sting cries, turning red as a tomato. “Not for me! That’s disgusting!” He slowly reveals Frosch in his arms, shaking slightly out of embarrassment. “I-It’s for this little guy.”

“Awww!” Levy coos. “Isn’t he the cutest?!”

Envy fills Gajeel’s eyes, but he pretends it isn’t there in the slightest. “Ohhh, so you wanted it for the little rascal, huh? Sorry, we ain’t got any. But I bought lots of tacos.”

Sting holds out a cinnamon twist to Frosch’s mouth with sparkling eyes. “Here, lil guy.” The cat nibbles on the end, then quickly starts to devour the entire thing. Sting laughs cheerfully, petting it's tiny head. “Gotta big appetite for one so small!”

“So, whattya gonna do with him?” Gajeel asks. Everyone turn to look at him in mild surprise, hearing the total awe in the metalworker’s voice. Gajeel’s cheeks turn pink as he looks away, “N-Not that I care!”

“Uhuh, sure…” Sting mumbles under his breath, not convinced in the slightest.  
  
Rogue chuckles softly, “Probably was going to stay here with us, although he’s mostly Sting’s responsibility.”

“How do ya know it’s a boy?” Gajeel suddenly says, likely to cover up his excitement to have a cat in the room.

“Uhh..” Sting shrugs. “We don’t?” He shoves a taco into his mouth, chewing noisily before realizing everyone was staring, then blushes dark pink and closes his mouth. He didn't want to appear rude in front of Rogue, and especially not in front of Rogue’s _brother_.

Rogue shrugs. “It, then.” He smiles, moving over to Sting and petting the small kitten’s head. “It is adorable. I’m glad you found it, Sting…” He looks up at Sting with adoring eyes. “The poor thing could have died.”

Sting’s cheeks flush from pink to red, the smile on Rogue’s face sending his heart into a frenzy. “U-Uh…” he stammers. “Y-You’re...you’re welcome…”

Rogue reaches for a cinnamon twist, looking at Sting curiously. “By the way, you said earlier you ran into someone in the alley…?”

Sting nearly chokes on his taco. “U-Uh…” He looks down at his feet. “Pretty sure it was...Oracion Seis…”

Gajeel drops his taco again. “DAMMIT!” he hisses. He picks food off of his pants as he speaks, words sharp as if he was spitting poison, “Fucking Oracion...don’t get anywhere near them, kid, they’re bad news…”

“Sorano…” Levy says softly. “Yukino’s told me so many stories about how wonderful she used to be…”

Thick, melancholy silence falls over the group. Just then, Frosch meows loudly and tries to eat some of Sting’s taco. Sting nearly falls over, quickly supporting himself. “Whoa there, kitty…” He pets it’s head softly, breathing out, “I have to admit...I’m very scared of them…”

“You should be,” Gajeel grumbles.

“Gajeel!” Rogue cries, instantly moving closer to Sting. “Don’t scare him more.” He looks at Sting with concern. “Listen, Sting. They’re not going to do anything to you unless you piss them off. Just stay away from them, and you’re good.”

Sting swallows nervously, shifting on his feet. “Okay...I’ll try to avoid them from now on…”

Levy suddenly stands up, holding her phone in her hand which is flashing the time, a small smile on her face. “Sorry to leave so soon, but I have to work on my report for Literature.” She kisses Gajeel on the cheek, then quickly embraces both Rogue and Sting. “Bye bye! Have fun with the kitten!” She giggles, then rushes out the door.

Gajeel groans. “Oh great, thanks babe, leaving me with these lovesick nerds.”

“For the last time, we’re not-!” Rogue protests, then suddenly his shoulders slump and he lets out a deep sigh. “Whatever. I give up trying to convince you people.”

Gajeel raises an eyebrow. “So you two really aren’t a thing?”

“No, Gajeel,” Rogue sighs again, taking off his glasses and wiping them on his sleeve. “Honestly, the more you pester me about it, the less likely I’ll ever actually find someone...you know that, right?”

Gajeel grunts, trying not to look like a softie, but fails. “Well, you’re my kid brother, it’s my job to tease ya...but if it’s truly making you uncomfortable I’ll shut up. Rather you’d be happy.”

Sting grins despite his heart feeling heavy from the constant reminders that he and Rogue were just friends. “Aww, you guys are sibling goals,” he teases.

“SHUT UP!” Rogue and Gajeel shout together, and Sting nearly falls over laughing.

Rogue bites his lip, suddenly looking really uncomfortable. “Oh, uhm...I just remembered, I have a report to do as well…"

Sting sees the lie in Rogue’s eyes, stomach churning. “You know, Rogue, if you don’t want me around you can just say so…”

“That wasn’t what I meant at all,” Rogue quickly replies, “I...need some space...from everything. For a moment.”

Gajeel reaches for his headphones and lies down on his bed. The kitten jumps away from Sting and lies on Gajeel’s stomach. “If you need me, Rogue, poke me,” Gajeel says, then closes his eyes and falls into his music.

Rogue sighs, sitting down on his own bed and drawing his knees up to his chest. “Sorry, Sting, I…” He looks up at Sting with sad eyes, shaking slightly. “Something just...hit me again. Memories. Regrets. You know...that fun stuff.”

Sting nods, “Yeah, I get it...I’ll go…”

To Sting’s surprise, Rogue grabs his shirt and pulls him down onto the bed next to him. “N-No I...no. Nevermind. Please stay…” Sting’s eyes widen in shock as Rogue rests his head against Sting’s shoulder, breathing heavy. “F-Fuck Sting...I’m so worried I’m going to lose you that I don’t want you to see me like this but…” His breath hitches in his throat. “But I need someone here..that’s not anyone else...I need _you_ here...you understand…”

Sting’s heart pounds hard against his ribs. “I’m not going anywhere, Rogue… You were my first friend here...I’m not going to leave because people are teasing us...I’m used to being teased, after all.”

“You shouldn't be,” Rogue whispers, “and I shouldn’t be either. No one should be used to teasing…”

Sting moves his fingers through Rogue’s hair. “Your friends are just being silly, though.”

“They know what they did has scared people off,” Rogue’s voice is empty. “I’ve told them to stop a million times and they never do…”

“Honestly, I don’t mind it that much,” Sting admits softly. “It’s kinda funny seeing what they come up with…” He smiles, trying to cheer Rogue up. “Just watch, next they’re going to be calling us leprechauns because we’re ‘rainbow people’.” Sting knew the joke was a bit of a stretch, but Rogue chuckles anyways, making Sting flush with pride. “See? It’s not all bad.”

“Maybe,” Rogue smiles softly, “you should start making comebacks. Then they’re not listening to the same old ‘Rogue is a spoilsport’ routine.”

Sting laughs, grinning over at Rogue cheerfully. “Yeah! If we joke back, maybe they won’t stop, but at least then it’ll be something positive instead of you getting your feelings hurt.”

Rogue bites his lip, eyes closing. “It’s hard to explain, honestly...why it affects me so much. It’s...when they tease me, it’s not even like it’s been in the past. This time...I get more embarrassed?” Rogue looks over at Sting, seeing his wide eyes and pink cheeks and instantly blushes as well. “S-Sorry, that was a bit...rambling...I…”

Sting looks at him curiously, “Wow, don’t think I’ve ever seen you this awkward before.”

“Shut up,” Rogue snorts, elbowing Sting in the side, lifting his head from Sting’s shoulder. “Today’s been really unexpected, and like I said earlier, I really wish people didn’t have to see me like this.”

“I like it,” Sting confesses, making Rogue stare at him incredulously. “I mean sure, your other personality is really uh…” _Don’t say sexy don’t say sexy don’t say sexy_ \- “...cool…?” _Wow, good job Sting, fucked that one up._ “But I like this side of you. It’s...more human, I guess? I dunno, makes me feel special that you’re willing to share your other side with me.”

Rogue looks away almost shyly, muttering, “Well, it was kind of an accident but…” He turns his head, smiling softly at Sting. “I’m glad I did.”

Sting’s cheeks heat up as he laughs and looks away as well, embarrased. “Y-Yeah...me too…” He reaches down to set his hand on the bed, fingers accidently brushing against Rogue’s. He instantly jumps to his feet, coughing awkwardly. “S-Sorry…”

Rogue lies down on his bed, breathing in deeply. “I don’t know what you’re apologizing for…” Sting breathes a sigh of relief. _He didn’t notice_. Rogue carries on, “I don’t want to keep you here if you want to go back to your room...I’ll be alright.”

“I want to stay,” Sting replies, moving back to the bedside and kneeling down next to Rogue. Rogue stares up at the ceiling, eyes half-lidded. “You’re obviously upset.”

“Don’t worry about me, I’m fine,” Rogue whispers, but once again Sting can hear the lies. “Just tired.”

“I’ll stay until you fall asleep, how’s that…?” Sting asks gently, getting off of his knees and sitting cross-legged on the ground.

“Thank you…” Rogue whispers, “I...owe you, Sting…” His eyes close, chest rising and falling. To Sting’s surprise, he falls asleep almost instantly.

Sting smiles fondly, reaching forward and gently taking off Rogue’s glasses and setting them down on his nightstand. He brushes his fingers against Rogue’s cheek, then works up a burst of courage and kisses Rogue’s forehead. “I love you…” he whispers, heart pounding with nerves. Rogue doesn’t stir, fast asleep in his own dreamland.

A soft snicker interrupts the peace, causing Sting to turn his head to the side with wide eyes. “I knew it.”

Sting turns bright red, “I-I…” He sighs, shoulders slumping. “Don’t tell anyone.”

Gajeel looks at him bemusedly. “Don’t worry, kid, your secret’s safe. Although, I will tell you this...Rogue never shuts up about you.”

Sting smiles softly, looking over at Rogue. “Yeah...I’m going to wait for him to say something...even if it means waiting forever.”

“Good luck with that,” Gajeel grunts, shoving his headphones back on. “He’s pretty concealed.”

Sting stands up, looking at Rogue one final time. “I can only hope…”

* * *

 

Sting groans, squinting at the numbers swirling on the page. “What bullshit,” he hisses, slamming the textbook shut. “This is all fucking stupid. What’s the point of me knowing this? I just wanna work with computer codes, I don’t need fucking algebra.”

“You might,” a familiar voice says from behind them. Sting turns around to face Natsu, crunching on Doritos and wearing his baseball cap sideways. Noticing Sting’s raised eyebrows, Natsu bites into another chip. “Uhh, something wrong? Why ya staring?”

Sting lets out a snort as Natsu sits beside him. “You look like a fuckboi.”

Natsu makes an expression of mock offense, “How rude, I am highly sophisticated.”

“Do you even know what ‘sophisticated’ means?” Gray appears out of seemingly nowhere with a bag of beef jerky. Natsu opens his mouth to reply when Gray interrupts “Likely not, cuz you’re stupid.”

“Bastard!” Natsu hisses as Gray plops into the sit beside him. Natsu stomps on Gray’s foot, causing a yelp to escape Gray’s throat. “HA!” Natsu shrieks. “THAT’S WHAT YOU GET, YOU ASSHOLE!”

“BITCH!” Gray snaps back, shoving Natsu towards Sting. Sting leans away, looking at them in total confusion and a bit of fear. Calming down, Gray holds out a piece of beef jerky. Natsu snatches it out of Gray’s hand and eats it in a single bite. “Oi!” Gray cries. “That was for Mr. Friendzoned over here!”

“Bet I’ve sucked more dick than you ever will,” Sting retorts, despite not having any sexual experience in his entire life.

Gray splutters, and Natsu bursts out laughing. “GRAY’S A VIRGIN!”

“SHUT UP I NEVER SAID THAT!” Gray screeches, grabbing Natsu Doritos and dumping the entire bag on his head.

“You’re all hopeless virgins,” another voice cuts in cooly. All three of them freeze and lift their heads to see a tall woman with dark hair gazing at them all with a condescending expression. “And trust me, pouring chips on each other’s head isn’t going to get you laid.”

“Shut up, Minerva,” groans Gray, crumbling up the chip bag and throwing it aside.

“Yeah!” Natsu sits up straighter and tries to look tough. “You know nothing about being a man!"

“You’re right, because men are mostly fucking pigs,” Minerva rolls her eyes and the boys shrink down in disappointment. Seeing Sting staring at her with nervous eyes, she lets out a haughty laugh. “And who’s this?”

“U-Uh, I’m Sting, Sting Eucliffe,” Sting stammers, slightly terrified of this tall, sharp-tongued woman who Sting was 99% sure was a lesbian. “I’m a-”

“ ‘Friend’ of Rogue’s, I know,” Minerva’s eyes are twinkling, matching her smug expression. “Yukino told me. Everyone in our little circle knows about your little...friendship.”

Sting bites his lip, trying to come up with a comeback. “W-Well, how do you know Yukino?!” he stammers out, hoping he sounded at least slightly confident, and that his suspicions were correct. When Minerva blushes, Sting mentally cheers. _Sting one, Minerva zero._

“Pffft, like _that’s_ any secret either,” Gray laughs. “Honestly, what’s with everyone and their not-so-secret crushes?”

“Says _you_ ,” Minerva snaps cooly, “the person who stares at Natsu like he’s the sun every single day.”

“You know,” Natsu says, “that sounds accurate.” He grabs one of the chips off of his hat brim and bites into it. Gray’s face turns bright pink at Natsu’s implications. But Natsu wasn’t finished. “I mean, when people look at the sun they get all squinty and whiny like ‘eewwww that hurts my eyes’ which is pretty much what Gray does to me 24/7.”

Sting instantly bursts into rambunctious laughter, clutching his stomach. “Y-You know, I never thought about h-how ridiculous that saying is until now.” He reaches over and steals a piece of Gray’s jerky, starting to get more comfortable with the situation. “I mean, who the hell looks at the sun like it’s the most beautiful thing in the world? I mean, sure, sunsets and stuff are pretty but they’re saying the _sun_ -”

“S-Sorry to interrupt,” a soft voice cuts in. Once again everyone turns around, revealing a blushing Yukino. “U-Um...so my manager said that tomorrow each one of the employees can bring in someone to give them a free meal...M-Minerva uh...do you want to come…?”

“HAH!” Natsu shouts, standing up on the bench. “HA! HA HAAHAHAHA! SEE YOU ALL OWE ME, YOU FUCKS! I WAS RIGHTTTTTT! I’M RICHHHH!”

“SHUT UP, THAT ONE I NEVER BETTED ON!” Gray screeches, reaching over to strangle Natsu.

“Pretty sure I was the one who said something in the first place…?” Sting mumbles, stealing another piece of jerky.

Minerva’s cheeks are dusted with pink. “O-Oh...I’d love to, Yuki.”’ She smiles softly. “What time?” While they discuss things, Natsu and Gray are bickering over money and throwing food at each other while screaming strangle battle cries. At one point, Natsu yells something in another language while trying to shove jerky down Gray’s throat, resulting in Minerva looking over her shoulder and smirking, “Oooh kinky~”

Sting shakes his head at the shenanigans. While he found it amusing, his math quiz was in three days and he needed to understand this chapter more than _okay well this is numbers and shit. Got it. It is math._ He drops his textbook on the table with a loud **BANG** when something touches his shoulder, whirling around and breathing heavily, thinking that either Natsu or Gray was trying to attack him with food as well. Instead, the smiling face of Rogue Cheney greets him. “Oh thank god, I thought you were…”

“One of the idiots?” Rogue sighs, pushing a piece of hair out of his face. “I have no idea how they even ended up over here, they don’t normally sit on this side of campus…?”

“They’re stalking me,” Sting jokes, standing up to look Rogue in the eyes, tucking his book under his arm. “What’s up?” _Nice. Real smooth. What a way to impress a guy. Might as well wear a neon shirt that says I AM AWKWARD AT ALL THINGS._

Rogue laughs softly, rolling his eyes at the group near them. “Not much. I slept in and missed my first class, which is troubling but...I needed the sleep.” He rubs the back of his neck, looking away from Sting’s eyes. “Which reminds me...can I talk to you for a second?”

“Sure thing!” Sting grins, leaning closer in interest.

“O-Oh,” Rogue’s mouth twists nervously. “Can we talk...alone?” He swallows. “I...I know you came up with a plan to avoid teasing but...I’d rather avoid the situation.”

Sting turns pink, heart pounding in his chest. _Oh my god. Alone. He wants to talk alone. Alone. With Rogue. To ask me something. Well, maybe ask me something. Fuck, what if he kisses me or something…? I forgot to brush my teeth. Shit. I need to be prepared for this crap._ Sting clears his throat and stands up straight. “Oh, yeah, that’s cool. Chill. Great. Totally fine with that.” _WHAT THE FUCK AM I SAYING????!!!_

Rogue laughs again, eyes bright with amusement. “Follow me, then.” Sting stumbles over his own feet, trying to follow Rogue as best he could. Rogue leads him across campus towards a few benches near beautiful rose bushes. Rogue sits down, then waits for Sting to join him. Sting collapses beside him, palms sweating with nerves.

“Wh-What did you want to talk about?” Sting stammers out, trying to look anywhere but Rogue’s face. _Fuck. Fuck why am I shaking? I have no evidence that this is any sort of confession...and yet… Oh god, what if he_ **_heard_ ** _me say that I loved him last night? Oh fuck fuck fuck fuck-_

Rogue sighs, shoulders slumping slightly. “I...thank you…” He looks up at Sting with grateful eyes. “Yesterday was tough, and you were there for me all day. You listened and you actually stayed with me until I fell asleep. And then you left a coffee with my name on it on the counter, and it was still hot and…” He smiles wider. “You’ve done so much for me...I want to find a way to repay you.”

Sting’s entire face flushes with heat. “O-Oh…?” _Shit, can he hear my heartbeat…? Rogue, you make my heart beat so fast it almost hurts… I wish I wasn’t so damn shy and awkward...I wanna tell you how much I love you…_

Rogue laughs, “You’re as red as a tomato, do you really sunburn that easy?”

Sting’s heart stops. _Oh god is he flirting or…?_ “U-Uhm...yeah! Normally I use 100 SPF sunscreen but it’s so expensive and I’m broke ahaha…”

Rogue raises an eyebrow, but shrugs it off. “Ah, I see.” He leans a little closer to Sting, looking into his eyes. All of Sting’s blood rushes to his cheeks. “Well, I was going to ask you...if I could...you know...treat you to dinner tonight…?” Sting’s eyes widen, and hurriedly Rogue tacks on, “If you don’t have work, that is.”

Sting answers in a rush, “Oh my god I uh I’d I really I uhm-”

Rogue laughs softly, “Calm down, it’s okay. If you have to say no, I understand.”

“No no no!” Sting cries, flustered and excited. “I’m sorry I got over-excited I’m really broke and would l-love that so much I w-want to go really bad-” _Fuck fuck fuck being obvious again-!_

Rogue shakes his head fondly. “Alright,” he chuckles. “Sounds good then. I’ll come to your dorm room at 6pm, how’s that?”

“Glorious,” Sting breathes, trying not to pass out from embarrassment. “I-Is it fancy dress or…?”

Rogue snorts, causing Sting to blush at how cute the small sound was. “I’m a college student too, silly. I’m practically broke. It’s not super fancy, but don’t look too casual. Just some nice everyday clothes?”

Sting nods, nearly bouncing in his seat. “Y-Yeah, I can do that!”

Rogue pulls out his cellphone and checks the time. “Well, shit. I’m about to be late to another class.” He stands up, smiling down at Sting. “See you tonight, Sting.” He pauses, as if he was going to say something else, but then turns and walks away.

The moment Rogue vanishes from sight, Sting covers his hands over his mouth and screams into his palms. Finally having got that out of his system, he collapses onto the bench with a huge grin on his face. “As long as I don’t make a total fool of myself again, this should be hella fun,” he murmurs. He squeals quietly, jumping to his feet. “I’M GOING TO DINNER WITH HIM AHHHH-wait.” Sting suddenly cuts his own scream off, the reality of the situation setting in.

“Dinner...with Rogue...he _asked_ me to go...said it’s kinda fancy...ish…” His eyes widen in realization. “Oh my _god_...did he ask me out? IS THIS A DATE?!”

Sting is about to scream again when he pauses to think. “But he didn’t say it was...and didn’t really treat it like so...it’s probably just a friendly thank you…?”

Sting sighs in disappointment, then snaps out of it. “Get ahold of yourself,” he mumbles. “Don’t shoot down all possibilities before it happens! This could totally be a date, Rogue is _so_ gay for you, he loves you and your clumsy shit, alright?”

Feeling more confident from his own peptalk, Sting strides in the direction of the dorms with his hands in his pockets. He had to figure out what to wear...and who knows how long that’d take. Everything was going to have to be spotless… “Hmm, need to gel my hair, probably shower, I wonder if I should wear a bit of eyeliner…?” Beyond the point of excitement, Sting whoops loudly, fist-pumping in the air above his head, then runs all the way back to his dorm.

This was _totally_ a date…

Right?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to update! Here's the long anticipated chapter 7, I hope you enjoyed! :D
> 
> Please, please, please leave some sort of comment for me! While I love kudos and they are a nice gesture, I'm trying to improve my writing best I can, and I'd love it if you could leave a comment with little things you liked, so I know what do to more of! And if you have any polite constructive criticism, that too is always welcomed <3
> 
> Thanks for reading :)


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